The 5 hippest design hotels in London

Designer Kit Kemp created this gorgeous boutique in Fitzrovia, perfect for explorations into the West End or Bloomsbury. The bohemian Bloomsbury Group and their Omega Workshops of a century ago are the inspiration for the interior styling, including original paintings by Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell. The beautifully appointed Oscar cocktail bar and restaurant is usually buzzing.

This Georgian townhouse hotel is well situated in a hip part of town, with plenty of great restaurants close by. Having only 13 rooms the warm, stylish and old-fashioned eccentricity of the interiors give it the feeling of being a private residence. The cocktail bar is award-winning and certainly worth a visit in itself.

Historic Bethnal Green Town Hall dates from 1910 and is a grand, imposing building in the art deco style. It has recently been transformed into a very fine hotel. The new interiors have retained many of the period features but have a bright modern feel. The Corner Room restaurant and Le Bar are worth a look too.

More than just a hotel, The Culpeper near to Brick Lane is a large red-brick Victorian building that’s home to a fine pub with craft ales on its ground floor, a lauded restaurant on its first floor, and five very reasonably priced rooms on the upper floor. These share a stylish, stripped-back aesthetic with the rest of the building. The roof terrace has a garden and greenhouse where you can take breakfast.

Opened in 2019, The Standard is a fabulous modern hotel that occupies a 1974 brutalist style building that once housed Camden Council’s town hall and library. The distinctive yet eclectic decor has something of a Wes Anderson vibe to it. The building’s municipal past is referenced in the cosy and kooky council library-themed public lounge, home to an audiophile DJ booth, recording studio and fermentation bar. Latin inspired Decimo on the 10th floor is one of two in-house restaurants.