The Wellesley Knightsbridge

If you visit London and don’t stay at a hotel with top hat-donning doormen, did you even visit London? We’d argue that you didn’t. Proper visits begin and end with a tip of the cap, and The Wellesley delivers all that and more, including 24-hour butler service and gratis chauffeur drop-offs for quick whirls around town. Rooms themselves are equally coddling (expect Hermès toiletries in the Carrara marble-lined bathroom, mixed metals and tailored Deco-inspired furniture, including plush tufted headboards). If any of the 1930s-era Bloomsbury Group were reincarnated and needed to hole up and write in splendor, they’d stay here.

A pampering Art Deco boutique hotel in Knightsbridge, overlooking Royal Hyde Park.

Old and dreary. Unlike countless stuffy hotels in this town, this opened in 1955 and was just revamped by Alex Kravetz Design.

You’re an unabashed Luxury Collection junkie. Oh, and there’s a private cigar terrace—including Europe’s largest humidor stocked with some of the world’s finest smokes—on-site.

Whiskey is one of your favorite salves on a rainy day, and The Wellesley proffers tipples like no other—all from the gilded delight of the Crystal Bar, a four seat Jazz Age-inspired boite Fitzgerald himself would j’adore. Cocktail of choice? The aptly-named Ella Fitzgerald, with Chivas Regal 12, vanilla syrup, Mandarine Napoleon and hibiscus citron tea.

Oval Restaurant - Fresh, seasonal and refined Italian cuisine in an intimate and sophisticated setting Jazz Lounge - Weekly "Live at The Wellesley" performances showcase the property's love of live jazz complemented by Italian fare Crystal Bar - An exclusive, glamorous bar with an impressive selection of whisky, cognac and Armagnac