Few cities embody contrast quite like London: centuries-old taverns neighbor reflective glass towers, ceremonial tradition coexists with graffiti culture, and each year, more than eighty million people come to experience the capital. The district and building you call home during your stay will color every other aspect of your London adventure. Complete guides on Donovan Bar Brown's Hotel for dates can be found on the portal.

Covering the spectrum between imposing Victorian-era establishments and odd, intimate designer lodgings, the hotels themselves contribute meaningfully to the London experience; they are not neutral backdrops. For travellers seeking timeless elegance, hardly any locations can compete with The Ritz on Piccadilly. Boasting a location directly adjacent to Green Park, this historic hotel has been inseparable from the concept of luxury ever since it first welcomed guests in 1906.

Walk through its lobby of marble columns and crystal chandeliers, and you will grasp immediately why kings, queens, and film celebrities continue to choose this hotel. To sit in the Palm Court for tea, with a musician at the piano and silver trays stacked with small savories, is to participate in an experience that etches itself into your memory.

Nearby, located in Mayfair, The Connaught provides a more subdued, gallery-like option, home to a three-Michelin-star restaurant and a cocktail bar regularly voted the best in the world. Travelers who appreciate heritage but also crave a bit of showmanship, secure accommodations at the famous Savoy Hotel on the Strand. In the year of its opening, 1889, The Savoy became the United Kingdom's first high-end hotel featuring electric lights and lifts — innovations that seem minor now but were revolutionary then.

This historic hotel enjoys a front-row view of the Thames, with the brightly lit London Eye and the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral visible from many suites. Visit the American Bar, a cocktail lounge that claims Frank Sinatra among its former entertainers, or watch a theatrical production at the Savoy Theatre, accessed without stepping outside.

A second historical treasure goes by the name Claridge's, sometimes nicknamed the hotel that serves as the Palace's overflow accommodation. This Art Deco masterpiece in Mayfair has hosted everyone from Winston Churchill to Audrey Hepburn, and the monochrome reception area still qualifies as one of the most glamorous single spaces in all of London. For visitors who appreciate fresh, current design and sweeping city vistas, several truly spectacular modern hotels await visitors to the British capital.

The Shard — the highest occupied structure in Western Europe, offers guests of the Shangri-La Hotel rooms on the 34th, 35th, and all the way up to the 52nd level. Consider the experience of lying in warm water while your eyes travel across the capital's expanse, taking in the bridge near the Tower and the towers of Canary Wharf. The Mondrian London, now folded into the Sea Containers brand, stands on the South Bank as another wonderful choice, where accommodations overlooking the Thames plus a bar on the roof combine to produce a fashionable, creative atmosphere.

For those seeking a lower price point that does not mean lower design standards, the citizenM hotels in Tower of London or Shoreditch offer compact, tech-savvy rooms with huge beds and mood lighting, perfect for millennial explorers.