Hotels Winston Churchill Has Stayed At

A dining room dating to 1919, dressed in blue with gold moldings and crystal chandeliers, captures El Palace Hotel Barcelona’s enduring taste for ceremony. The former Ritz, a short walk from Passeig de Gràcia, puts that heritage to work at Amar Barcelona, where chef Rafa Zafra’s seafood-focused cooking includes nods to the hotel’s earlier menus. Afternoon tea brings live piano music to the historic main hall, while breakfast is served in El Jardín, an indoor garden with black-and-white décor and wrought iron details. Upstairs, the Rooftop Garden adds another dimension: greenery, open-air dining and a guest-only swimming pool, with views across Barcelona toward the Sagrada Família.

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.

Afternoon tea gives The Langham, London a direct connection to its Victorian beginnings: the hotel first served it when it opened in 1865, and Palm Court still makes the ritual a centerpiece of a stay. Live piano accompanies tea today, giving this West End grand hotel a social heart with a long memory. Its other gathering places have distinct personalities, from the cocktail-focused Artesian to The Wigmore, a British pub in a former banking hall serving food overseen by Michel Roux. Set on Portland Place, a five-minute walk from Oxford Circus, The Langham puts Regent Street shopping within easy reach while offering plenty of reasons to spend an afternoon at the hotel itself.

Edwardian rooms in gray and tangerine and Art Deco rooms in gold and caramel give The Savoy two distinct visual identities, reflecting the eras that shaped it. The theatrical connection runs deeper than the decor: the hotel was built to accommodate travelers coming to see Gilbert and Sullivan at the Savoy Theatre. Today, its private approach off the Strand puts Covent Garden and the West End within a short walk, while river-facing rooms look across the Thames. Inside, floral sculptures rise above the lobby’s black-and-white marble floor, afternoon tea unfolds beneath Gallery’s glass dome with live piano, and the American Bar makes cocktails part of the hotel’s enduring social life.

The 1893 World’s Fair clock is back at the center of the Waldorf Astoria New York’s lobby, a fitting anchor for a hotel whose recent restoration makes its architectural heritage central to the stay. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon restored its exterior and interior spaces, preserving the scale of the Art Deco architecture. Upstairs are 375 redesigned rooms and suites; the King Room includes a seating area, writing desk, and deep soaking tub. Downstairs, Peacock Alley returns alongside Lex Yard, chef Michael Anthony’s brasserie. The Park Avenue address places guests in Midtown, near Grand Central Terminal, Rockefeller Center, and Fifth Avenue’s shops.

A courtyard decorated with thousands of mosaics gives Prince de Galles a distinctive heart: Le Patio, a garden setting for lunch, dinner or cocktails just off Avenue George V. Opened in 1929, the hotel carries its Art Deco identity through a lobby of marble floors and gold-leaf chandeliers into rooms and suites inspired by the era. The Suite Saphir extends that vocabulary in beige and blue, with two terraces overlooking the avenue. Dining adds another reason to linger: Restaurant & Bar 19.20 takes its cue from 1920s Paris, while Akira Back serves modern Japanese cooking with Korean and international influences. Beyond the hotel, the Champs-Élysées is steps away.

Karl Lagerfeld’s Grands Appartements give Hôtel de Crillon a distinctive design pedigree behind its Neoclassical façade on Place de la Concorde. Art runs through the hotel, with sculpture, painting and photography by established and emerging artists sharing space with its historic architecture. The rooms take a residential approach, pairing custom art and comfortable furnishings with marble bathrooms; suites add bespoke furniture, textiles and individually selected objets d’art. Tucked-away courtyards offer a quieter setting within the property. For an evening overlooking the square, Les Ambassadeurs serves cocktails alongside live music, with a terrace beneath the arcades—a place to appreciate the architecture as part of everyday hotel life.

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.