These gorgeous London hotels have been designed with creatives in mind

Known as a Westside hideaway for the creative and the curious, this Edwardian manor at 22 Grosvenor Square earned the Pineapple Award for Hotel Design in 2022. Its Parisian-inspired interiors combine 18th-century classical elegance with contemporary creative flair (think bold, saturated colours and plush, playful textures). Every feature within the 31 bedrooms and suites is either bespoke or vintage: sumptuous tail curtains shrouding grand windows, dazzling vintage chandeliers and unique upholstery and wall coverings by fabled society fabric maker Braquenié. Its private members club – so discreet you won’t find it publicly advertised – features four areas, including a Music Room for late-night dancing and The Vault Bar, whose outdoor terrace is perfect for tucked-away soirées.

HIGH LIFE SAYS
Ask to book The Heritage Suite – its whimsical, Moghul-influenced mosaic wallpaper is redolent of spectacular, faraway landscapes, and a spread of exquisitely tactile fabrics and a cabochon marble bathroom will elevate your sensory experience.

Set in the West End’s Denmark Street, Chateau Denmark is where punk rock, vintage gothic accents and psychedelia unite. Expect gold-trimmed, graffiti-adorned bedframes, dramatic wallpaper, glossy black furniture and larger-than-life art within the hotel’s ‘apartments’, many housed in buildings that bore witness to the work of Britain’s 20th-century musical icons. The Rolling Stones recorded their first album here, while Vivienne Westwood was dating Sex Pistols’ manager Malcolm McLaren when he rented the hotel’s now named ‘I Am Anarchy’ apartment. Take inspiration from the hotel’s cultural programme, which features artwork by the likes of photographer Damien Frost (best known for Night Flowers, a series that documents alternative nightlife around the world) and designer-turned-artist Magnus Gjoen.

HIGH LIFE SAYS
Head to the hotel’s new baroque-inspired bar, Thirteen LDN, for bold, playful cocktails (Major Tom, a G&T highball with lemongrass, nods to David Bowie’s Space Oddity), while underground club dial8 – all maximalist design and dramatic drapes – is the spot for epic afterparties.

Creative visionaries are no stranger to Brown’s Hotel: it’s where Alexander Graham Bell made the very first telephone call in 1876, while Agatha Christie and Rudyard Kipling are said to have penned parts of their first novels here. All rooms have been individually designed, decked out with vibrant, lustrous fabrics and tables adorned with hardcover classics by PG Wodehouse and others. The Sir Paul Smith Suite is one to book if you’re a fan, featuring furnishings that reflect the designer’s own taste, including some found in his own Covent Garden HQ, such as a Christopher Simon Sykes photograph of Chatsworth House library, and a 1970s leather desk chair by Mario Bellini. Elsewhere, it’s all quirks and splashes of Smith’s sense of humour, from the banana door handles to a robot figurine made from a vintage camera. 

HIGH LIFE SAYS
The Donovan Bar houses ‘photographer to the stars’ Terence Donovan’s largest private collection. While there, sample Harry’s Star, named after 1940s barman Harry Craddock, made from Rivington dry gin, orange and seaweed syrup, Muyu Vetiver Gris liqueur and lemon juice.

Set in the former Curtain Hotel in Shoreditch, Mondrian London joins the hotel group’s suite of properties in cultural hubs such as Cannes, Mexico City, Ibiza and Seoul. Just like its sister properties, this spot is all about its creative events programme, with previous collaborations featuring an inflatable rocket by fashion-designer-come-artist Jack Irving, and a month-long 1970s ‘golden era of boxing’-inspired residency by elite club JAB Boxing. Its coworking space offers weekly get-togethers for members, including panel discussions, live music and club nights. The design is just as exciting, with vibey art installations and giant plants scattered throughout the lobby, a hand-painted mural by British artist Fred Coppin in the ground-floor bar, white-brick-walled bedrooms featuring playful artwork, plus a rooftop pool for summer dipping.

HIGH LIFE SAYS
Snap a selfie inside the hotel’s fully mirrored room – paying homage to installation artist Yayoi Kusama – where colourful globe lights installed around the room’s edges give viewers the illusion of seeing themselves reflected in infinity.

Mayfair is enjoying a creative renaissance of late, but newcomers have their work cut out, given the love for old establishments in this part of town. And there is a lot to love about the Athenaeum, an illustrious address at 116 Piccadilly, which places you between the open spaces of Green Park and the stunning art of the Royal Academy. Built in the mid 19th century, redeveloped in the 1930s, and finished with contemporary design masterstrokes including a Living Wall designed by Patrick Blanc, the hotel’s achingly smart spaces will make creative heads spin. Expect spacious, contemporary rooms, a bar and restaurant serving up neo-British plates, and no shortage of working hub options for those looking to go about the business of business. The Athenaeum’s unmistakable design and warmth continue to attract the great and the good, decades after Elizabeth Taylor first propped up the bar here. If it works for Kim Kardashian…

HIGH LIFE SAYS
Don’t miss the opportunity to unwind in the underground spa with a bespoke scrub, massage or facial. Your booking comes with access to the hot tub, sauna, steam room and relaxation space. Given that there are only two treatment rooms, chances are you will be at the helm of that sauna ladle.

Pan Pacific in edgy East London is within throwing distance of some of the city’s most unmissable creative spaces and iconic street art, including the Grade II-listed Whitechapel Gallery, the Grade I-listed Museum of the Home (set in Hoxton’s 18th-century almshouses) and a heady spread of graffiti-tattooed and muralled walls, set cheek by jowl along Brick Lane and Hanbury Street. It’s no surprise, then, that this British-meets-Singapore hotel is infused with more than just a hint of ingenuity. Inside, its serene interiors have been designed by Yabu Pushelberg (a studio so impressive it’s been inducted into the Design Hall of Fame), whose custom murals of Southeast Asian flora and fauna create a soothing atmosphere to inspire creative flow. Add Straits Kitchen for a tasting journey through Southeast Asia, or the seductive Ginger Lily bar for more than 150 aged rums and a spread of handsome cocktails such as the refreshing Green Waterfall, made with Derrumbes San Luis Potosi mezcal, citrus, cucumber, mint and ginger beer.

HIGH LIFE SAYS
Tap into the art of tranquillity before bed: each of the 237 rooms and suites has a personalised book collection put together by leading curator Ultimate Library, reflecting the hotel’s botanical theme and Singaporean roots. 

Set within the former Bow Street Magistrates’ Court, NoMad London is the first of the hotel group’s properties to cross the pond, offering an oasis of transatlantic glamour by Covent Garden. Wandering through this bohemian bolthole is not unlike moseying through a collector’s home, with some 1,500 pieces of art adorning public spaces, from Josef Alber lithographs to New York night scenes captured by fêted 1930-50s photographer Weegee, plus an endless array of tapestries, sketches, watercolours and sculptures to meditate on. At its heart is the NoMad restaurant – a triumph of farm-to-table cuisine housed in a sun-drenched Edwardian atrium – where diners are dished up flaky steaks of wild turbot, seared Devon lamb and meaty Shetland scallops. Rooms are as elegantly appointed as the rest of the hotel, with Art Deco flourishes, mosaic-swathed bathrooms, free-standing vintage tubs and, of course, oodles more art to muse over.

HIGH LIFE SAYS
The hotel’s Side Hustle bar brings a flavour of Latin America to proceedings, with moreish margaritas and stunning spins on classics such as the Oaxacan Old Fashioned, made with Siete Misterios Doba-yej mezcal, El Tequileño Reposado, Mace, Oloroso sherry, banana, chocolate and Angostura. Pair with a tuna tostada for a truly showstopping snack.  

Try not to let imposter syndrome get the better of you at The Savoy. Past guests are a who’s who of creative genius, including Oscar Wilde, Bob Dylan, and Claude Monet – the latter is said to have painted his famous London bridges series following a particularly inspirational stay. If you’re not cracking out the watercolours, you’ll probably be tempted to get arty with your camera when faced with the hotel’s trademark chequerboard flooring, green lacquered elevators and claw-foot bathtubs. Further photo opportunities come in the form of the bowler hat and cane within the Charlie Chaplin signature suite (one of the hotel’s epically large, one-bedroom Edwardian dwellings). Should any creative self-doubt start to creep in, knock it swiftly on the head with a strong drink at The American Bar. (Nab Frank Sinatra’s favourite table by the bar.) Deadline looming? Head back to your room, where an on-call butler service means you can concentrate on the serious business of creativity. 

HIGH LIFE SAYS
Take a leaf out of Virginia Woolf’s book (“One cannot think well… if one has not dined well”) and grab a table at The Savoy Grill – from yet another creative luminary, Gordon Ramsay. The fluffy Arnold Bennett soufflé, with smoked haddock and cheese sauce, will have you penning odes to eggs.