Take Three: Beautifully refurbished London hotels
Looking for a hotel in London? The capital is steeped in history, and many historic buildings have taken on a new life as a hotel - making them fascinating places to stay.
The Rosewood London
Best for: busting the budget
The Rosewood Hotel Group recently spent a whopping £85 million refurbishing and renovating the historic Pearl Assurance Company building in High Holborn to its former sumptuous splendour.
The grand features of this Edwardian Belle Époque building have been meticulously maintained, from the the original carriageway entrance to the seven-storey Pavanazzo marble staircase and the glorious ballroom and formal courtyard.
The Rosewood London has 242 rooms and 44 suites, all with impressive square footage and equally impressive prices. A night's stay starts at £310 for a deluxe king room and climbs to an eye-watering £2,880 for the Chancery House Suite, spread across two levels with separate living room, private study, Italian marble bathroom, guest powder room and a large dining area with seating for eight.
The Fox and Anchor
Best for: relaxed travellers and ale aficionados
The Fox and Anchor is housed in a former London gin joint that has been serving Smithfield Market traders and its foot traffic for years. Now lovingly restored to its former mahogany, brass and etched glass glory it comes complete with the added bonus of six boutique bedrooms.
You'll find chaises longues, fireplaces, bronze roll-top baths and lattice windows in the rooms, each (named after a local landmark) and there are pewter tankards of ale and traditional, private drinking snugs downstairs in the handsome wood-panelled bar.
Sample a range of British food in the bar from smoked eels to oysters, home-made pork scratchings and pies or come in for the City Boy Breakfast, which features minute steak, black and white pudding, calves liver and lambs kidneys. Rooms start from £160 per night.
Ace Hotel London
Best for: media types and creatives
Hip US Hotel Group, Ace Hotels has expanded into London with this modern, arty offering found in the middle of uber trendy Shoreditch. Ace Hotel London is aimed at "culturally curious business and leisure traveller" and creative media types, says co-founder Alex Calderwood.
The site used to be home to a 10year-old Crown Plaza Hotel. Ace has updated the building with funky facades and interiors, decked out by UK designers. Each vintage furniture-filled room has its own bespoke piece of art and guests can use the hotel's fleet of Tokyo bikes to explore the galleries, shops and markets of East London.
The rooms have a clean, contemporary flavour and come in cool, muted colour schemes. Suites come with their own dining or entertaining area, Music Hall player, selection of vinyl records and an acoustic guitar. Standard doubles start at £179 while a suite will set you back £479 a night.
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