Best Hotels & Restaurants in City of London
Best Hotels & Restaurants in City of London – The City of London (the capital’s central business district) offers some of the most convenient places to stay, thanks to its proximity to Covent Garden, Liverpool Street and St Paul’s. Despite what you might think, hotels in the so-called Square Mile aren’t all corporate bores; these five hotels, at least, come with plenty of character and style.
Simultaneously a business and nightlife centre, London is a city of paradoxes, and nowhere is this more apparent than in this historic central district. By day the streets bustle with busy professionals; at night the lively atmosphere of pubs, clubs and restaurants takes over. It’s this work-hard-play-hard mentality that sums up what the Big Smoke is all about. Dive into the midst of it all with a stay at one of the best hotels in the City of London – each with its own distinctive personality.
Best Hotels & Restaurants in City of London – Hotels
Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square
Grand, imposing, and historical. The white neoclassical building – with its soaring Corinthian columns and statue of Old Father Thames holding a trident – was built in 1922 to house London’s Port Authority, well served by its position overlooking the river and the Tower of London (it was then the second tallest building in the city).
Maybachs and Jaguars frequently pull up to the curb, not least because the building, renovated and reopened in 2017, also houses a private members’ club on the second floor (sadly not accessible to guests).
The lobby’s equally grand marble rotunda would feel cavernous if not for the warmly glowing bar beckoning you across the room – with a sexily curved copper top and baroque cabinet of backlit bottles – and the lounge tables scattered around the room under a dome.
Cheval Three Quays
Cheval Three Quays is a luxury all-apartment Residence available to book for any length of stay, from one night, to one year or more. T
he chic lobby – complete with an elegant water feature, dazzling chandelier, cream mosaic floor, Roman-esque columns, burnt-orange leather chairs and oversized photographs documenting the history of the Bankside location – sets the tone.
Guests check in at the colossal leather-clad welcome desk topped with black granite. Corridors are lined with black and white photographic prints of London, with floors adorned by majestic purple carpets
Whether you’re visiting London for business or pleasure, the Residence is superbly located next to the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and London’s financial district.
A 4-minute walk from Tower Hill tube station, this modern extended-stay hotel is a 5-minute walk from Tower Bridge, and 2.8 miles from the British Museum.
Chic, modern units range from studios to 3-bedroom apartments, and feature oversized windows and full kitchens.
A 24-hour concierge is available.
The Ned
The Ned is the brainchild of Nick Jones, founder of the Soho House empire, and here and there it shares a certain family resemblance with one or two of its younger, party-loving cousins.
The imposing hulk of a building used to be the headquarters of the Midland Bank, and seven of those nine restaurants are arranged, food-court style, around the emerald marble columns and checkerboard floor of the soaring lobby, which is where the bank tellers used to sit. This makes for an impressive, if disconcerting, entrance.
But really The Ned is its own thing: a 252-room hotel and members’ club spread over eight floors above ground and three below, with nine restaurants, 15 bars, two pools, a spa, a barber shop, a boxing gym, and, by the door to the old Tapestry Room, a beautiful old cabinet with compartments designed specifically for the secure storage of bowler hats.
Best Hotels & Restaurants in City of London – Restaurants
Head east for super-cheap Vietnamese on Kingsland Road, or cruise Brick Lane for curry.
Exmouth Market is a great lane of shops and eateries.
Visit Moro for Spanish and North African tapas and grills
Berber & Q for shawarma
Coin Laundry for seasonal British fare.
From foie gras to smoked eel, Club Gascon on West Smithfield serves fine French fare
The Quality Chop House on Farringdon Road has hard benches but great food.
Shoreditch satiates appetites in style at Brat, where most dishes come flame-cooked
Gloria where spaghetti is served in a large wheel of parmesan.
Best Things to do in City of London
Clerkenwell is one of London’s oldest parts – in amid hipster coffee joints and big-deal restaurants, you’ll see the Museum of the Order of St John and some very old-school churches.
St Paul’s Cathedral, revamped Shakespearean theatre the Globe and regal jailhouse the Tower of London are also easily reached from here.
Shoreditch has louche live-music venues and diverse eateries (Vietnamese, Peruvian, best-of-British)
Bethnal Green has lauded cocktail bars and serious craft-brew hangouts.
Big-hitter museums include the Geffrye, Sir John Soane’s and the British Museum; and galleries are in abundant supply, whether you’re trawling Shoreditch’s inroads for indie spots (StolenSpace has an excellent eye for up-and-coming talent) or want to see who’s hanging at the Tate Modern.
And, for one-stop cultural immersion, the Barbican offers dance, song, drama and more – all in a jolie-laide Brutalist shell.
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