In a former grammar school for boys near Tower Bridge, Victorian grandeur has been overlaid with Indian opulence to make a classy hotel.

Galleries, an antiques market, arthouse cinema – buzzy Bermondsey is home to trendsetting London culture and this youthful, privately owned hotel offers good-value, comfortable accommodation in a bright, modern setting.

‘Distinctly cool’ European luxury combines with ‘exceptionally good value’ in this City hotel designed with playful flair by Terence Conran.

Novelists, politicians, silk merchants as well as the petty thieves, tarts and vagabonds of the area are commemorated in this eccentric hotel in gentrified Spitalfields.

‘Intensely stylish’, this good-value hotel welcomes visitors with a playful blend of slick architecture and arcade-game nostalgia.

There may now be USB charge sockets in all bedrooms, but this hotel retains such an air of a bygone age that you half expect Dr Johnson to swing by from his house a stroll away.

A complimentary glass of cava – a nod to the hotel group’s Spanish origins – welcomes guests to this good-value hotel within walking distance of the National Theatre and the South Bank.

A design-led boutique hotel with impressive green credentials (it pumps water from its own 1,500-foot borehole), this former Victorian warehouse embodies the renaissance of East London.

Wit and whim go hand in hand at Mark Sainsbury and Michael Benyan’s ‘brilliantly quirky’ Georgian town house in a cobbled corner of Clerkenwell.

‘Simple, ideally located and representing good value’, this small hotel with a pretty, plant-decked Georgian exterior is ‘remarkably quiet’ considering its prime position in bustling Covent Garden.

A Gallic oasis off busy Covent Garden Piazza created by four Parisians (Experimental Group), this small hotel occupies a couple of red brick Victorian town houses with a literary past as the former offices of Victor Gollancz.

A lively vibe attracts bright young things to this former office block-turned-cool hotel.

A calm oasis in buzzy surroundings, Kit Kemp’s signature modern English style surges through this swanky West End hotel.

A gleeful mix of vintage furnishings and striking artwork defines this ‘beautiful, very quiet hotel’ ideally situated for Theatreland.

Named after former resident and essayist William Hazlitt, this ‘stunningly individual’ hotel, owned by Peter McKay and Douglas Blain, is a sensuous escape from Soho directly outside.

Sculptor Fernando Botero’s ten-foot-high bronze cat cheekily pokes its tongue out at guests in the lobby of this creatively designed hotel.

Guests are bowled over by this tranquil hotel in Soho, which has sweeping views over the London skyline.

Just north of Soho and the West End theatres, the zesty embrace of art and colour confirms this hotel as one in Tim and Kit Kemp’s Firmdale group.

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

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.

Cushty! This transformed former Victorian public house has been part of the landscape since 1878.

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