London Calling: Check Into These 3 Stylish Hotels

The Savoy, Beaverbrook Town House, and The Stratford are luxe lairs to consider for your next U.K. stay.

Some come to London for the old-school “Pip-Pip, Jeeves” vibe of top hats, Big Ben, and Jack the Ripper. Others are here for the world of velvet-draped townhouses where Keith Richards might be nursing a drink in the corner booth. But the modern traveler wants a London that’s raw, design-forward—east of everything that feels stuffy and British. Recently, I checked into all three Londons. One came with the ghost of Winston Churchill. One came with a private garden that only I had the keys to. And one came with the feeling that the city’s next chapter was being built right outside my window.

The Savoy

The Savoy is where Winston Churchill held court during World War II and where Oscar Wilde ran up bills that would eventually ruin him. Built in 1889, it was London’s first hotel with electric lights and electric elevators. A guy named Guccio Gucci worked here as a luggage porter in 1899 and was so inspired by the leather bags of wealthy guests that he went home and started a fashion house. You may have heard of it.

All this history hits you like a ton of scones while you sit beneath the gigantic glass dome of the Thames Foyer, enjoying the most exclusive Afternoon Tea in the city. You can sip from 30 varieties, while nibbling on delectable stacks of sandwiches and pastries. Cost is around $120 a head, unless you order champagne then you’re in Oscar Wilde territory.  

The rooms are split into two styles—Edwardian-style (on the Thames side) and Art Deco (on the Strand side). Lots of marble, silk, and brass. The Savoy is so fancy it even has a special bed designed for it called the Savoir, which was commissioned in 1905 and slept in by Giacomo Puccini and Marilyn Monroe. The mattresses are handcrafted over 80 hours from actual horse tail hair and signed by the craftsman who made them. 

Needless to say, I slept well the night I stayed there, but not before swinging by the American Bar — the oldest cocktail bar in Britain. The bar got its name because it was the first in London to start mixing more than two ingredients, which was considered very American. Some classic cocktails were invented here that I never heard of but trust to be true, such as the Hanky Panky and the White Lady. My favorite touch was a letter from Neil Armstrong on the wall thanking The Savoy for creating the first cocktail he had after returning from the moon. 

Beaverbrook Town House

A short cab ride away in Chelsea is the Beaverbrook Town House. But this feels like another world from the busy Strand. The streets are wide and quiet, lined with gorgeous Georgian townhouses and the kind of elegant hush where old money Brits in yoga pants rub shoulders with new money oligarchs clutching Fendi bags.

Where The Savoy is grand and imperial, Beaverbrook is intimate and eccentric. It’s what would happen if Wes Anderson was asked to decorate an English manor. Floral wallpaper, pastel colors, vintage tea sets, 500 curated artworks on every wall. Nothing matches but it all works together.

The 14 rooms are each named after a famous British theatre — The Globe, The Old Vic, Drury Lane, The Garrick — and each one feels less like a hotel room and more like a perfectly curated stage set. Four-poster beds, velvet drapes, and vintage rotary phones. The minibar is complimentary and stocked to your preferences before you arrive. And the televisions are hidden inside ottomans that rise out of nowhere at the touch of a button.

One of the unexpected perks is a key to Cadogan Gardens, a private park directly across the street that only hotel guests and a handful of Chelsea residents have access to. There’s something deeply satisfying about strolling the manicured gardens while the rest of the serfs press their faces against the iron railings wondering how to get in.

The Stratford

Now for something completely different, as Monty Python would say. The Stratford sits in East London, in a neighborhood that most tourists overlook and most Londoners associate with the 2012 Olympics. The hotel was designed by the same architects behind the Burj Khalifa — the tallest building in the world — and it’s sort of their thing. At 42 stories, The Stratford overlooks Olympic Park, the financial district, and Canary Wharf. It’s bigger than Big Ben. 

The interior was designed by Space Copenhagen — the studio behind Noma, the Danish restaurant that has been ranked the world’s best many times. With its muted palettes, natural oak, and warm metals it feels distinctly Scandinavian. Then you step outside into the shadow of West Ham’s stadium and London reasserts itself immediately. I had the pleasure of attending a West Ham game while I was there, and let me just say I am now an Irons fan for life. 

In the courtyard sits a six-ton solar-powered crystal sculpture that bends light like a massive crystal ball. The Mezzanine Bar has been voted one of the top ten hotel bars in Europe, with DJs Thursday through Saturday. Each room has floor-to-ceiling windows, maximizing those views, stone-clad bathrooms with heated floors, and what the hotel claims is London’s fastest WiFi. And if none of that convinces you, consider this: rooms start at around £150 a night — roughly a quarter of what you’d pay at The Savoy. In one of the most expensive cities in the world, that’s worth its weight in pounds. Same London. Very different price point.