The best hotels near Piccadilly Circus

The big one. Renowned for its opulence and extravagance, the Ritz has been a hallmark of London high society for more than a hundred years. The smallest rooms would be suites in any other hotel, the views over Green Park are nothing less than stunning and the restaurants and bars (including the world-famous Palm Court) are second-to-none. It even has a casino. Just don’t expect a cheap stay.

Situated just off Shaftesbury Avenue, Dean Street Townhouse is a rather chic little boutique that offers the sort of warm, cosy rooms you might have expected to find in a country hotel. It’s probably the hotel in the area which best strikes the balance between comfort and budget, though it’s owned by Soho House, so expect to pay a little more if you’re not a member.

The Z Hotel is sleek and contemporary above all else. If you go in expecting gargantuan rooms or fancy upholstery you might end up disappointed, but if you’re after something entirely unpretentious in an unbeatable location (Trafalgar Square is literally right around the corner), this is your best bet – and the rates are some of the most affordable in the area, too.

Located within a stone’s throw of Piccadilly Circus tube station (and that’s not hyperbole), the Hotel Café Royal is another of Soho’s many plush Victorian-era hotels. The elegant interior and stylishly modern rooms have hosted a number of celebrities over the years, from David Bowie and Muhammad Ali to Oscar Wilde and Virginia Woolf. Once you see inside, it won’t be hard to guess why.

While the majority of the higher-end hotels in the area tend to opt for a more traditional vibe, the W is a masterpiece of twenty-first century decadence. Everything – from the quirky, colourful rooms to the modish upstairs W Lounge cocktail bar, which offers views over Leicester Square itself – is purpose-built for one thing: to be nothing more or less than exceedingly cool.

Built in a former multi-storey car park and designed by the renowned Kit Kemp, the Soho Hotel boasts expansive rooms with warehouse windows and an utterly unique interior design – think living-room comfort with quirky colour schemes, embellished by art pieces from Kemp’s personal collections. No two rooms are alike. The hotel offers special deals from time to time too, so you could end up with a few choice extras thrown into your stay.

Soho’s Ham Yard Hotel scores major points with its distinctive, characterful decor and spacious rooms, but it’s with the facilities where it wins big: on top of the usual restaurant and bar, you’ve got a stunning roof terrace, spa, gym, theatre, shops - including a couple of fashion designers, a swimwear designer, tea shop, florist and jeweller - juice bar and a bowling alley all located within the urban village of the same name.

Located on the site of the 1810 Berners Street hoax (look it up), the Sanderson Hotel is today a curious mix of pristine, contemporary design and colourful, baroque furnishings. The rooms themselves are more than comfortable, but it’s the bar and courtyard – which feature some of the most bizarre interior decorating choices you’ll ever find in a hotel – that really shine. The Sanderson is also known for its Mad Hatter’s afternoon tea, which is often ranked as one of the best in London – especially if you opt for the Tipsy version with four cocktail flights.

Named for the nineteenth-century essayist William Hazlitt, this relatively small boutique hotel in Soho is a popular haunt for creatives, and the old-fashioned grandeur of its 30 rooms and suites make it a highly sought-after location for filmmakers and photographers. You can hardly blame them, either – there are few hotels in London that feel quite as atmospheric as Hazlitt’s; from the honesty bar in one lounge to Lord Godfrey the hotel cat in the other, this place is very special.

Premier Inn’s Hub hotels are high-tech, comfortable and almost unbelievably affordable. Check-in is quick and easy, and everything in the rooms, which are designed with the sort of marriage of style and simplicity in mind that wouldn’t look out of place in downtown Tokyo, can be controlled from your smartphone – including an augmented reality wall map. It’s an impressive level of tech considering the rates, which are among the lowest you’ll find in London.