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London’s most stylish hotel is cool, minimalist and thrillingly expensive. Behind a 1950s office-block exterior, plain walls are punctuated by Dali-lips and Louis XV sofas, while wafting curtains and oil paintings decorate the ceilings of the sparse bedrooms. Facilities include a sauna, gym and spa. Check for special break deals.

In a former 1908 bank building, this is a relaxing designer hotel with art-filled lobby and corridors, two good restaurants and an 18-m (60-ft) pool with underwater music.

The Sanderson’s sister hotel was designed by Phillipe Starck. Rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows and even the bathrooms (all with big tubs) are 50 per cent glass.

Just off Tottenham Court Road, this hotel is an oasis of calm, with a mystical, Oriental style and attentive staff. The rooms are light and feng-shui assured, with white orchids, fishtanks and candles for decoration.

One of the most tasteful and comfortable hotels in London, where leather armchairs and antiques mix with contemporary works of art, and log fires burn in the drawing room and library. The bustling Oscar bar and brasserie attract Charlotte Street diners.

Opened in 2000, and just a stone’s throw from Tate Modern, this seven-storey hotel has pay TV and video-games in every room.

Glass, steel and bamboo feature in these high-quality Japanese-style serviced apartments, with on-call chefs to cook for you, Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream in the fridge and full Internet facilities.

When you walk into this dazzling white, Zen-inspired hotel, you’ll think you’ve reached Nirvana. Immaculate and stylish, it has a central atrium from which five floors radiate. Each room is individually designed in a minimal Japanese style. The restaurant serves Thai-Japanese cuisine.

Contemporary and stylish, this was one of the first of the classy modern hotels in London, with black-clad staff, cool interiors and minimalist Oriental-style bedrooms. Go celebrity-spotting in the Met Bar or in Nobu, its fashionable Japanese restaurant.

A startlingly beautiful hotel in a Georgian town house, which has been given a thoroughly modern overhaul with marble, glass and dark woods and oriental details. The restaurant overlooks the garden and the rooms are equipped for communications and sound.