11 Best Hotels in Mayfair, London

Another member of the luxury Dorchester Collection hotel group, 45 Park Lane is a beautifully considered five-star property with no shortage of contemporary swagger to match its stylized art deco elegance. Spacious rooms are beautifully appointed and come with views of Hyde Park along with the blinking lights of the city below, although if you can afford one of the exceptionally appointed suites then all the better. From its sultry mezzanine cocktail bar and ultra-expensive grill restaurant to its ostentatious basement spa, 45 Park Lane opts out of staid luxury and instead presents an experience that oozes Golden Age glamour. 

Founded in 1837 by James Brown, Lord Byron's "gentleman's gentleman," this hotel occupying 11 Georgian town houses holds a treasured place in London society. Nowadays the interior has a slightly more modern edge, thanks to a top-to-bottom renovation by the Forte chain. Fans of the hotel still love the old-world setting, although a few complain that it's not quite the atmospheric old place it used to be. Nonetheless, it's a well-run operation, filled with the kinds of top-end extras you'd expect with this kind of price tag. The subtle, contemporary guest rooms have office spaces and marble bathrooms equipped with luxurious products, while the staff are exceedingly professional.

The well-heeled have been meeting—and eating—at Claridge's for generations, and the tradition continues in the original art deco public spaces of this super glamorous London institution. Guest rooms are soothing and suave, and spacious bathrooms have enormous shower heads. Enjoy a cup of tea in the lounge, cocktails in the stylish bar, or, better still, a meal in the hotel's legendary Foyer & Reading Room. Perhaps Spencer Tracy said it best when he remarked that, when he died, he wanted to go not to heaven but to Claridge's. Claridge's afternoon tea is a seriously fun, high-class treat—but make sure you book in advance.

A racy departure for the Four Seasons, this hotel has an English clubhouse look with a dose of boudoir. Mannered paintings of horses dot the walls in the lobby, but instead of staid hunter green or beige, the walls are a bright lacquered red. In the restaurant, the saucy vibe continues with zebra-print chairs bathed in low lighting. Upstairs, the palette shifts and becomes softer. Enormous black-and-white glamour shots from the 1950s and '60s dominate the hallways, and rooms evoke an ocean liner from days gone by, with square hardware, brown walnut wood, and mirrored sliding doors. Plaid armchairs and curtains accent the decor with a restraining touch of British reserve. Don't miss the spa on the top floor; in the treatment rooms, massive windows seem to hold all of Hyde Park inside a snow globe.

Overlooking busy Hyde Park Corner and the grounds of Buckingham Palace, this hotel's luxurious rooms are aimed at high-end business travelers. Comfortable yet sophisticated, they incorporate big windows and grand views and rich curtains and bedspreads. You will really feel treated like a king if you take one of the suites, where special guest services range from free snacks and a dedicated butler to a spin in an Aston Martin, should you feel like it.

Just five minutes' walk from Oxford Street, this is a great option for those who tire of traditional hotels: 12 luxury suites—some with balconies and working fireplaces—filled with everything you could ever need, including a handy kitchen. Cupboards are ready-stocked with everything from cookies to herbal tea, and if you don't feel like fending for yourself too much then room service will deliver groceries or fetch meals from local restaurants. You can also arrange in-room spa treatments or ride around town on a hotel bicycle.

This grand hotel overlooking Green Park offers plenty for the money: rooms are both comfortable and lavishly decorated, with deeply cushy Hypnos beds, plasma-screen TVs, luxurious fabrics, and original contemporary artworks. If you need more space, you can choose one of the luxurious apartments that occupy a row of Georgian town houses next to the main hotel buildings, each with separate living, dining, and sleeping areas and tiny, fully equipped kitchenettes. The spa is available only to guests, ensuring you can always get an appointment. The restaurant serves British-inspired food from Michelin-starred chefs and also offers a full afternoon tea—an elegant experience, complete with honey from bees in Regent's Park.

Deep in the heart of Mayfair, the former town house of the Earl of Chesterfield welcomes guests in wood-and-leather public rooms that match the dark-wood furnishings in the bedrooms—small but looking like fashion magazine spreads, with bold designer wallpaper or tones of fawn and gray. Notice the needlepoint dog pillows on chairs and couches throughout the lobby, a touch from the hotel's dog-loving owners. There are bargains to be had if you book online in advance, and the service is excellent. One neat little detail: the honey at breakfast comes from the hotel's own hives located on the roof.

A huge favorite of the "we wouldn't dream of staying anywhere else" monied set since its opening in 1917, The Connaught has many dazzlingly modern complements to its famously historic delights. These include up-to-date rooms done in smooth taupes and creams and—the ultimate sign of devil-may-care swagger—a swanky bar with platinum-plated walls. Chef Hélène Darroze runs her namesake, Michelin-starred restaurant; alternatively, the afternoon tea is a great splurge. But for all its modern touches, there are nods to history at every turn here. The Coburg bar is a wink at the Victorian royal family (the current royal dynasty was named "Saxe Coburg" until adopting the more British-sounding "Windsor" in 1917) and the hotel itself was named in honor of Queen Victoria's son, Arthur—the Duke of Connaught at the time it was built.

Few hotels this opulent manage to be as personable as The Dorchester, which opened in 1939 and boasts a prime Park Lane location with unparalleled glamour; gold leaf and marble adorn the public spaces, and guest quarters are awash in English country house–meets–art deco style. Guest rooms have Irish linen sheets on king-sized beds, acres of brocades and velvets, and Italian marble and etched-glass bathrooms with exclusive toiletries created by Floris. Three elegant-to-the-point-of-fussy restaurants include one three–Michelin star spot helmed by Alain Ducasse. Afternoon tea in the lobby is a classic, while the award-winning spa is popular with jet-set Londoners and in-house guests.

Hotel pedigrees don't come much greater than this one: built in 1865, The Langham was the original luxury hotel in the city, all but inventing the very image of what a great London hotel looked like. Good fortune didn't last: it closed in the 1940s, and spent much of the 20th century being used as office space by the BBC, before finally reopening in 2010 after a renovation that was rumored to cost nearly £100 million. The public spaces are flawless, from the spectacular, light-filled atrium, with its soaring marble pillars, to the restored ballroom, which now houses Roux at the Landau, Michelin-star chef Michel Roux's outstanding modern French restaurant. Guest rooms are spacious and modern, with sumptuously comfortable beds, although bathrooms in the basic rooms are small.