It’s not alone in claiming to be ‘London’s first boutique hotel’, but the ‘charming, quirky’ Portobello is assuredly one of its most extraordinary.

Named after Rhaune Laslett, a community activist and co-founder of the area’s annual carnival, this vibrant hotel occupies a row of five white stucco Victorian houses and draws inspiration and energy from its eclectic locality.

Visitors can live like a local at this eclectic Victorian house in chic yet quirky Notting Hill.

Steps away from museums, the Royal Albert Hall and the green spaces of Hyde Park, an intimate hotel in a Grade II listed South Kensington town house.

‘No bland corporate anonymity here.’ Beyond the portico of a white stucco Victorian mansion lies a truly boutique hotel, part of Kit and Tim Kemp’s Firmdale group.

Not far from Hyde Park and Marble Arch, an elegant hotel spread over three mid-19th century town houses with a comfortable, homely atmosphere.

All is serene at this handsome 1860s town house hotel (Firmdale group) just minutes from Hyde Park.

Osbert Lancaster dubbed the style ‘Pont Street Dutch’, but behind the gabled red brick facade of twin Victorian mansions, you are in Italy.

A ticket toss from the station, three meticulously restored Victorian town houses in a Paddington side street have been reinvented as ‘an affordable boutique hotel’.

The show-stopper at this small hotel is Sharon Marston’s April Light, an 18-metre cascade of polished steel, polymer and glass fibre optics, which hangs in the central stairwell, scattering colours and light.

‘On arrival we discovered that our package included afternoon tea, which we enjoyed before a concert at Cadogan Hall.’