Haymarket Hotel

Perhaps the shining light in the impressive Firmdale Hotels portfolio, the Haymarket is a sophisticated take on the idea that your hotel should be a visual experience as well as somewhere to rest your head. From the sculpture-stuffed lobby and adjacent floral-print salon to the art-filled bedrooms and basement pool-cum-bar thronging with Tom Ford lookalikes in open-necked shirts, the hotel is an idiosyncratic treat. Its restaurant Brumus serves up good-value brasserie-style food.