8 Best 5-Star Luxury Hotels in London for 2026, Ranked

Topping the list is The Ritz London — a 5-star hotel that has been a London icon since 1906, founded by César Ritz, the man who put the word ritzy into English. It sits on Piccadilly next to Green Park in the heart of Mayfair, all gold leaf, Baccarat chandeliers and Louis XVI styling. The Palm Court Afternoon Tea is the experience travelers fly in to try, served with a live pianist in a room that looks like a Royal Palace drawing room. A Royal Warrant from King Charles III hangs by the door, and Buckingham Palace is about an 8-minute walk through the park. It scores 9.3/10, with rooms from roughly $1,200 a night — the most expensive on this list, and the one most people put on their bucket list.

The Savoy opened in 1889 and was the first hotel in London to have electricity, elevators and a bathroom in every room — built by Richard D'Oyly Carte with the profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan shows. It sits on the Strand right on the Thames, a short walk from Covent Garden and the West End theatres, and is now run by Fairmont. The score is 9.2/10 and rooms start around $1,000 a night. The big draw is the river: River View rooms look out at Big Ben, the London Eye and Westminster Bridge. The other draw is the American Bar, open since 1893 and a regular on the World's 50 Best Bars list, with the quieter Art Deco Beaufort Bar next door.

Claridge's has been called the Buckingham Palace Annex — the hotel the British royal family has used to host state guests since Queen Victoria. It opened in 1856, and the building you walk into today is the Art Deco result of a 1920s renovation. It sits on Brook Street at the corner of Davies Street in the heart of Mayfair, with Bond Street and its luxury shopping right next door. The combined review score is 9.4/10 on Booking.com — the highest of any 5-star hotel in this London list — and it reflects service that guests genuinely remember. Rooms start around $1,086 a night and the top suites climb past $5,700. The Foyer Afternoon Tea, served under a giant Dale Chihuly chandelier, is still a place where the royals themselves turn up.

The Connaught is the oldest 5-star in this list — open since 1815 on Carlos Place in the middle of Mayfair, on a quieter corner than either Claridge's or The Ritz. The draw here is the drinking and the eating: the Connaught Bar was voted number 1 in the World's 50 Best Bars in 2020 and has held a Top 10 spot every year since, and Helene Darroze at The Connaught carries 3 Michelin stars. It also runs the only Aman Spa inside a European city hotel. Standard rooms start at 25 sqm, smaller than its rivals, but the service and the materials sit at the same level. Score 9.3/10, rooms from about $1,030 a night. This is the Mayfair pick for people who want privacy over glamour.

The Dorchester opened in 1931 on Park Lane, right against Hyde Park, and it was the first hotel in England built in reinforced concrete instead of brick — which is why the rooms run large and stay quiet. The Art Deco heritage is intact, now run by the Dorchester Collection alongside 45 Park Lane. Park-View rooms look straight out over the royal park, and standard rooms start at a generous 35 sqm. Dining is the headline: Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester holds 3 Michelin stars and China Tang holds 1, with the harp-soundtracked Promenade tea downstairs. It scores 9.1/10 and starts around $910 a night. The catch is no pool — the Dorchester Spa runs a Hammam and sauna but no swimming.

The Berkeley is a 5-star hotel in the Maybourne Hotel Group — the same group as Claridge's and The Connaught — sitting on Wilton Place between Hyde Park Corner and Knightsbridge. Its calling card is the retractable rooftop pool, which opens to the sky and stays usable year-round — a genuinely rare feature among London's grand hotels. The other draw is Pret-a-Portea, a fashion-themed afternoon tea where the pastries are shaped like designer pieces and the lineup changes with the seasons. Harrods is a 5-minute walk, Hyde Park sits straight across the road, and the Knightsbridge Tube (Piccadilly line, direct to Heathrow) is about 5 minutes on foot. It scores 9.2/10, with rooms from roughly $860 a night.

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London sits in the best spot in the city for anyone who came to shop — 66 Knightsbridge, a 2-minute walk from Harrods, facing Hyde Park across the road. The Park-View rooms look straight out over the royal park, and the Knightsbridge Tube entrance is two minutes away on the Piccadilly line that runs direct to Heathrow. Downstairs, the Mandarin Oriental Spa runs to 17,000 sq ft with a 17-metre indoor pool, and Heinz Beck at Apsleys serves Michelin-level Italian food in a Belle Epoque ballroom. The building is Edwardian, opened in 1902 as the old Hyde Park Hotel, so it carries real age along with the Asian-style service Mandarin Oriental is known for. It scores 9.0/10, with rooms from about $800 a night.

Shangri-La The Shard London occupies floors 34 to 52 of The Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe, so every room looks out over the city through 360 degrees. The indoor Skypool on floor 52 is the highest hotel pool in Western Europe, and GONG Bar on the same floor is the highest cocktail bar in the region. Downstairs the Sky Lobby sits on floor 35, alongside Ting Restaurant and the TING Lounge for afternoon tea, both running to the Asian Shangri-La standard. It sits on the south bank by London Bridge station, a 2-minute walk from the platforms and 3 minutes from Borough Market. The score is 9.0/10 and rooms start around $710 a night — the modern-luxury pick on a list of heritage names.