‘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.

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.

A smart hotel in a former boys’ school between Olympia London exhibition centre and Hammersmith.

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

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

Across from the pocket park of Orange Square, with its statue of a young Mozart, this ‘upmarket pub/café/restaurant’ is a sister to the Grazing Goat (see entry).

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.’

Bright modernity filters through this smart, surprisingly affordable Belgravia B&B within walking distance of some of London’s most iconic sights.

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.

High-spec technology meets ‘domesticated heaven’ at this sophisticated Pimlico hotel on a tranquil garden square, within easy reach of a major travel hub.

Forget starving in a garret. Artists need their creature comforts like the rest of us, and find them at Charlotte and Justin Salisbury’s hip hotels (see also Brighton, South Leigh).

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.

‘We enjoyed our very expensive one-night stay,’ writes a reader who pushed the boat out at Jeremy Goring’s grand Edwardian hotel, the last of its kind in London to be run by the founding family.

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

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

Front-facing rooms peep into the royal mews from the fifth floor of this historic building, overlooking Buckingham Palace.

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’.

Choose Lear’s Loft bedroom at this Georgian town house and you can dance to the light of the moon on a roof terrace with alfresco copper bath, then phone down for mince and slices of quince and a runcible spoon.

‘I have stayed at this lovely hotel for many years, and it still pleases in every respect,' writes a reader in 2019, of this cherished London institution, contrived from four knocked-through Georgian town houses.

In ‘a great location’ in vibrant ‘Portman Village’, tucked away behind Oxford Street, this ‘all-day café/bar/restaurant-with-rooms’ has a relaxed vibe.

In a quiet spot, this Mayfair hotel (part of the Althoff collection) in a former diplomats’ club has a secret shortcut on to Green Park.

Discreetly tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the West End, a calm town house hotel with an intriguing history.