Art takes several forms at Hotel Arts Barcelona, from views of Frank Gehry’s golden El Peix sculpture beside the gardens to handcrafted headboards by Lorena Canals in the renovated rooms. The steel-and-glass tower stands on the Mediterranean waterfront near Port Olímpic, with floor-to-ceiling windows framing the sea or city skyline. Rooms start at approximately 485 square feet, giving their curved furnishings, geometric lines, and Mediterranean colors room to register. Landscaped gardens and two outdoor pools extend the hotel toward the water, while Enoteca Paco Pérez gives dinner a distinct sense of place: its two-Michelin-starred cooking draws on ingredients from the Mediterranean, gardens, and mountains.
A Chihuly chandelier in the Foyer gives Claridge’s a fitting introduction: design is central to this Mayfair hotel, where Victorian grandeur and Art Deco geometry shape the public rooms. The bedrooms carry that range further, spanning Victorian, Deco, and contemporary styles rather than following a single decorative template. Afternoon tea in the Foyer & Reading Room remains one of the hotel’s defining rituals, while the intimate Fumoir has been serving cocktails since 1929. The spa adds another architectural draw, with a heated pool beneath a multi-vaulted ceiling supported by stone columns. Outside, Brook Street and Davies Street place guests among Mayfair’s shopping streets, within easy reach of Hyde Park.
And five storeys below all this is a basement that’s home to the staggeringly sexy underground Japanese-inspired spa, designed by the interior architect André Fu, featuring a pool lined with columns and cabanas. You may be just metres below Bond Street here, but the sound of flowing water and smell of the hotel’s signature cedarwood fragrance means you feel miles away. It’s impossible not to throw yourself into the luxury of it all, whether that is eating in the Foyer, a mirrored room just off that lobby that is perfect for people-watching (guests have included Leonardo DiCaprio, Winston Churchill and Audrey Hepburn) over afternoon tea or Claridge’s indulgent signature lobster Wellington: a pastry parcel encasing an entire lobster.
Expansive windows and uncluttered interiors give COMO Metropolitan London its character, with Hyde Park or the Mayfair skyline supplying the outlook from its 144 rooms and suites. In the Junior Park Suites, sycamore timber and window seats make the park views part of the room’s design; selected Metropolitan Park Rooms add balconies. This contemporary hotel on Old Park Lane also has a substantial dining identity: Nobu serves Japanese-Peruvian cooking on the first floor, while Labombe by Trivet brings a wine-focused restaurant and bar from the team behind Trivet. Hyde Park lies across the road, and Bond Street, Piccadilly, and Knightsbridge are within walking distance.
The Metropolitan attracts names from “the four Ms” — movies, modelling, media and music. Guests have included Lauryn Hill, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Moss.
Philippe Starck’s design gives St Martins Lane a playful streak, carried through from its bold interiors to the golden hand that serves as a door handle at Blind Spot, the hotel’s hidden cocktail bar. In Covent Garden’s theater district, this is a hotel with an evening life of its own: the speakeasy serves drinks inspired by cities around the world, while EllaMia moves from craft coffee to cocktails after dark. Upstairs, rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows and customizable LED lighting, letting guests adjust the mood as daylight fades. The combination of expressive design, generous windows and places to linger makes it a distinctive base for exploring London’s West End.
English gardens provide the design thread at The Dorchester: their colors and motifs shape the rooms and suites, while an extensive art collection explores the British landscape tradition. Outside, Hyde Park stretches across from the hotel’s Park Lane address in Mayfair, with Bond Street’s boutiques nearby. That connection to its surroundings gives this grand London hotel a character beyond its dining credentials, which include contemporary French cuisine at the three-Michelin-starred Alain Ducasse restaurant. The Promenade supplies a more everyday rhythm, serving breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner with live music. Together, these spaces make the hotel as much a place to spend an afternoon or evening as a base for exploring London.
The Dorchester Elizabeth Taylor called the Harlequin Suite home whenever she was in town, and today's A-listers, like Leonardo Dicaprio, are known to frequent the hotel for junkets, premieres and leisure.
Hand-painted trompe l’oeil marbling and chandeliers give The Lanesborough’s Withdrawing Room its elaborate character, with Wellington Arch framed beyond the windows. That taste for Regency decoration carries through the hotel’s individually furnished rooms and suites, each with dedicated butler service around the clock. Interior designer Alberto Pinto directed the renovation of this historic mansion at the edge of Hyde Park, where the setting puts Knightsbridge and Sloane Street shopping within easy reach. There is good reason to linger inside, too: chef Shay Cooper’s Lanesborough Grill centers its modern British cooking on seasonal produce from across the country, while the Library Bar keeps a collection of rare spirits.
Ludwig Bemelmans’s murals and nightly piano at Bemelmans Bar give The Carlyle an identity that extends well beyond its guest rooms. Cabaret at Café Carlyle makes music central to this Upper East Side Art Deco landmark, where art and entertaining shape the public spaces. In The Gallery, decorator Renzo Mongiardino took inspiration from Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace, creating a distinctive setting for afternoon tea. Upstairs, rooms include designs by Tony Chi and Thierry Despont, while suites furnished with original artwork carry a residential character. Central Park, Madison Avenue, and nearby galleries put the neighborhood within easy reach, but the hotel’s own rooms for music, drinks, and conversation are reason enough to spend an evening here.
Acoustic guitars in the guest rooms give an early clue to Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris’s artistic temperament. Philippe Starck’s reworking of the hotel carries that spirit through interiors filled with contemporary art, while suites draw on the lines and colors of the 1940s and ’50s, with books and messages scrawled on lampshades adding personal touches. The collection extends beyond the bedrooms: more than 300 works, a contemporary gallery and the 99-seat Katara Cinema make culture part of a stay. On Avenue Hoche, near the Arc de Triomphe and Parc Monceau, this hotel has welcomed artists and writers since 1928; its present-day character gives that history a tangible expression.
