Claridge's

Claridge's has been the drawing room of Mayfair since Victorian times, but it is the 1920s that define its soul: the chequerboard marble lobby, the Deco mirrors and ironwork, the sense that a jazz age dinner party might resume at any moment. Royalty, statesmen and film stars made it their London home, and the hotel still treats every arrival as a minor state occasion.

Rooms range from crisp Deco-inspired chambers to suites layered by leading English designers, all serviced by a legendarily discreet staff for whom no request seems novel. Recent years added an expansive below-ground world—a spa of Japanese-influenced calm and a swimming pool wrapped in pale stone—giving the grande dame amenities its Mayfair rivals long held over it.

Afternoon tea in the Foyer, under a Chihuly-style glass sculpture and to the strains of a string duo, remains London's benchmark ritual. The restaurant roster spans an elegant grill and an intimate art-hung bar; Davies and Brook may have passed, but the kitchen standard endures. Bond Street shopping and Mayfair's galleries begin at the revolving door.