Charlotte Street Hotel – Firmdale boutique

Charlotte Street Hotel sits in Fitzrovia, a quiet pocket of central London between the West End and Bloomsbury. The Firmdale property holds 52 rooms across five floors, and the building keeps the scale of the residential street it stands on. Soho, Oxford Street and the British Museum are all an easy walk away, so you can drop your bags and be among the shops, galleries and theatres within minutes. The area stays calmer than the main tourist routes once the working day ends.

Rooms follow Firmdale's English design style, with original art, hand-painted wallpaper and bespoke headboards rather than a uniform chain look. The Deluxe Double comes with a full double bed, a private marble bathroom and free Wi-Fi. Downstairs there is a bar and restaurant decorated with large painted murals, plus a private screening room that runs film nights. The room rate covers the room only, so you can add breakfast or eat out at the many places nearby.

Crabtree Fields, a small green square, is about 95 metres from the door. The Building Centre sits roughly 242 metres away, and two temples, London Fo Guang Shan and Radha Krishna, are within 330 metres. Tottenham Court Road and Goodge Street stations put the rest of the city within a short ride. Big Ben and the river are about 2.1 kilometres south if you want the postcard side of London.

Couples after a design-led London base with art on the walls and a calm street outside, close enough to walk to the West End but a step back from the crowds.