Tabitha Joyce

One of London’s more modern crashpads, The Twenty Two has injected a bit of energy into the Mayfair scene. It might be housed in a grand Edwardian mansion on Grosvenor Square, but the bedrooms are bold, with ruby-red four-posters, velvet tasselled upholstery and paisley Pierre Frey wallpaper that extends to the ceilings. While the food in the restaurant doesn’t do anything new (oysters, steak, Champagne), it’s worth soaking up the vibe in the powder-blue dining room. A handsome boutique stay in the thick of things.

Utterly welcoming, this surprisingly small hotel only has 14 bedrooms, which gives it the feel of a private townhouse. Each one is a maximalist colour blast of joyful interior design with marbled lampshades, pretty stained-glass light fixtures and wallpaper everywhere. It also hides one of Chelsea’s best-kept secrets downstairs: Japanese restaurant The Fuji Grill, with an omakase bar and a garden for sushi suppers on a hot summer’s night.

The courtyard alone is a delightful breather from busy High Holborn. And the restored Edwardian mansion is full of surprises inside too, with its gorgeous bronze glow and humbug-striped carpets in the plus-sized bedrooms. For those not staying the night, we highly recommend hitting Scarfes Bar for top-tier cocktails. This hotel has helped bring Holborn

to life again.

The Berkeley is a proper old-school address with spectacular Hyde Park views. In the same family as The Connaught and Claridge’s, it always has an eye on keeping things fresh. For example, non-guests queue up for in-house patissier Cédric Grolet’s croissants.

What sets Fortitude apart from the rest of London’s bake scene is not just its pretty Bloomsbury mews setting, but head baker Dee Rettali’s obsession with Marrakech. On any given day there may be merguez- and taktouka-filled baguettes alongside perfectly spiced sausage rolls made from Norfolk pork and pancetta. Pass by at 11am for beignets straight out of the fryer.

A sandwich board outside displays a customer review: “Hectic on weekends… baking was good… not quite worth the hype.” Which shows the confidence and humour of this Italian bakery, which serves London’s most-photographed cream buns. The maritozzi are bursting, dusted in thick icing sugar, and the croissants are also injected with pistachio and lemon cream. Plus, there are pizza slices that are actually worth the hype.

The speciality here is NYC-style bagels, which are bigger, doughier and more heavily seasoned than the London beigel. It’s run by ex-New Yorkers Georgia and Gabriel “Papo” Gomez and there are seven flavours to choose from, baked fresh every day. We love the Everything, with schmear, scallion and lox.