Step out of the hurly-burly of London into a cocoon of quiet but gracious living in this historic town house hotel.

All is bello indeed behind a Doric portico at this one-time haunt of rock-and-rollers – it remains a veritable carnival of stylish eccentricity, occupying twin stucco mansions in raffish Notting Hill.

Everything feels so true to the past at this Georgian property that you half expect Dr Johnson to arrive in a chaise from his house, through the alleys of the City.

You can drop in for a Pinot, a Peroni or passion fruit cooler in the café, club room or under a striped awning on the front terrace at this local hang-out and hip hotel in leafy residential Pimlico. g

Through the conventional entrance – with its Union Jack proudly flying – of this smart Victorian town house in the heart of Chelsea lies a luxurious hotel brimming with character.

By turns style-conscious and spellbinding, this modern Pimlico hotel holds surprises for wizards and Muggles alike.

Georgian ‘Grand Taste’ fuses with sybaritic comforts at this eccentric Spitalfields hotel, a tribute to the area’s novelists, silk merchants, rogues and vagabonds.

A hip, youthful air fills this modish Spitalfields gastropub-with-rooms, a stroll up the colourful street from the Whitechapel Gallery.

Conveniently located a short pace from the Eurostar terminal, three 19th-century town houses on a leafy public square have been converted into one contemporary hotel.

In a well-heeled neighbourhood, this flamboyant hotel occupies a spread of converted Georgian houses filled with deep colours, original artwork, plush furnishings and a sense of fun.

‘A cherishable place of curious individuality', this somewhat old-fashioned Edwardian hotel, spread across four Georgian town houses, continues to delight trusted readers with its slightly idiosyncratic charms.

London’s last grand hotel of the Edwardian era, The Goring is the epitome of old-fashioned luxury, from its silk-lined walls and liveried footmen to Michelin-starred dining and a secret garden.

In a once run-down neighbourhood of clockmakers and communists, now a hive of creativity, the former home of the Zetters football pools company was reborn in 2004 as a cool, child-friendly, eco-friendly hotel.

Conveniently close to both Victoria station and Sloane Square, this former brewery on the corner of a leafy Pimlico square is a popular neighbourhood pub and restaurant topped by four lovely rooms.

The chain stores of Oxford Street are so near and yet (praise be!) so far from this gastropub with a pavement terrace for outdoor drinking and dining.

Just across the cobbled square from the mothership (previous entry), in an area described by George Gissing in the 1880s as one of ‘abortive streets, of shadowed alleys’, today as hip as you please, a pair of Georgian town houses have been reinvented as a one-off small hotel.

The absurdist wit and whimsy of the Victorian poet and painter Edward Lear coupled with an imaginary wicked Uncle Seymour inspired the whacky design of these two brick-and-stucco Georgian terrace houses.

A hop, a skip and a grand jeté from the Royal Opera House, this small hotel, named for the 18th-century novelist Henry Fielding, is a ‘good-value’ option in a central location.

Close to Soho and the West End theatres, this Firmdale hotel raises the curtain on a burst of colour and contemporary British art.

A saunter from Hyde Park, this elegant hotel is spread over three Victorian town houses on a tree-lined avenue.

In a quiet corner of tony Mayfair, this sophisticated hotel (Althoff Collection) houses silkily decorated bedrooms, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and a plush, velvet-seated bistro and bar.

Vintage furnishings and modern artwork make a lively mix at this ‘elegant, sophisticated’ Firmdale hotel in the heart of Theatreland.

Guests receive the royal treatment at this chic, discreet hotel on the fifth floor of a historic building close to Buckingham Palace.

‘Distinctly cool’, this City hotel, designed with playful flair by Terence Conran, is filled with eye-catching works of contemporary art.

An apt choice for the animated neighbourhood, a Tony Cragg bronze sculpture seemingly in motion greets visitors in the tree-lined courtyard of this design-conscious Soho hotel.