Athenaeum Hotel and Apartments

This grand hotel overlooking Green Park offers plenty for the money: rooms are both comfortable and lavishly decorated, with deeply comfortable Hypnos beds, plasma-screen TVs, luxurious fabrics, and original contemporary artworks, and breakfasts are luxurious and varied, with endless Continental and cooked options. If you need more space, you can choose one of the apartments (£530-£630 a night) that occupy a row of Georgian town houses next to the main hotel buildings, each with separate living, dining, and sleeping areas and tiny, fully equipped kitchenettes. The spa is available only to guests, ensuring you can always get an appointment, and the restaurant serves butter-rich European cuisine and a full afternoon tea here (£29), an elegant experience (complete with honey from bees in Regent's Park).