Best Historic Hotels in London

L'Oscar London is a five-star boutique hotel set within a Grade II listed former Baptist Church in the heart of Holborn, restored by celebrated Parisian designer Jacques Garcia. Named after Oscar Wilde, its 39 individually designed rooms and suites blend Edwardian Baroque architecture — original friezes, marble fireplaces and grand chandeliers — with theatrical, sensual interiors. Moments from Covent Garden, the British Museum and Theatreland, it pairs heritage grandeur with an intimate, characterful stay.

Hotel Café Royal occupies the Café Royal building on Regent Street, founded in 1865 and long associated with the literary and artistic figures who gathered there, Oscar Wilde among them. The hotel reopened after a major restoration and includes the Akasha spa and the restored Grill Room, a listed interior.

Kimpton Fitzroy London occupies the 1898 building designed by Charles Fitzroy Doll on Russell Square in Bloomsbury, recognisable by its ornate terracotta façade. It is one of the largest hotels in the area and sits a short walk from the British Museum, with several bars and restaurants open to non-residents.

NoMad London occupies the former Bow Street Magistratesّ Court in Covent Garden, directly opposite the Royal Opera House. The conversion retains the courthouse structure, with the main dining room set beneath a glazed atrium in the former building. It is the strongest dining-led choice in the immediate Covent Garden area.

One Aldwych occupies Inveresk House, the Edwardian building constructed between 1907 and 1910 for the Morning Post newspaper, on the triangular site where the Strand meets Aldwych. It opened as a hotel in 1998 and remains one of the few independently owned five-star hotels in London. Facilities include an 18-metre indoor swimming pool, a Bamford wellness spa and the Dovetale restaurant. It holds One MICHELIN Key.

The Bloomsbury Hotel stands on Great Russell Street in a 1928 building designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, effectively opposite the British Museum. Its Coral Room bar is a destination in its own right. It is the most accessibly priced serious hotel in the immediate Bloomsbury area.

Rosewood London occupies the former Pearl Assurance headquarters at 252 High Holborn, a Grade II listed Edwardian building completed in 1914 and converted to a Rosewood hotel in 2013. Its Pavonazzo marble staircase rises through all seven floors beneath a domed cupola. The Holborn Dining Room and Scarfes Bar occupy the building's original east and west banking halls, and the hotel has a Sense spa and a large courtyard entrance set back from the street.

Q.Which London hotel is in the most historically significant building?

A.Among Central London hotels, L'Oscar London occupies the most unusual structure: a Grade II listed former Baptist Church on Southampton Row, built between 1901 and 1903 in Edwardian Free Baroque by the architect Arthur Keen as the headquarters of the Baptist Union. Jacques Garcia converted it in his first London project, and it is named after Oscar Wilde. The Doulton biblical terracotta panels and the domed former chapel — now The Baptist, used for events of up to 150 guests — are original listed fabric. NoMad London, in the former Bow Street Magistrates' Court opposite the Royal Opera House, is the other outstanding conversion in the area.

Q.What are the best converted-building hotels in London?

A.The strongest conversions in Central London are L'Oscar London in a 1901–1903 former Baptist Church on Southampton Row, NoMad London in the former Bow Street Magistrates' Court, Rosewood London in the former Pearl Assurance headquarters on High Holborn, and One Aldwych in the former Morning Post building. Each retains the original structure as the defining feature rather than concealing it.

Q.Does a listed building limit what a London hotel can offer?

A.Yes, and it is worth knowing where. L'Oscar London has no spa and no pool because the listed structure does not permit the excavation and plant installation those require; guests instead receive complimentary access to Gym Box Holborn, two minutes from the hotel. The same constraints are what preserve the terracotta panels, the domed chapel and the mirrored ceilings of L'Oscar Restaurant. Guests choosing a listed hotel are trading facilities for a building that cannot be reproduced.

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