Where to Eat, Stay & Explore in London This Summer

From Marylebone to Bloomsbury with the Doyle Collection

London is a city of distinctive neighborhoods — each with its own rhythm, history, and style — and the best way to experience them is to stay like a local with the Doyle Collection. Whether you’re interested in browsing indie shops in Marylebone, museum-hopping in Kensington, or relaxing in thermal pools in (surprise!) Bloomsbury, The Doyle Collection’s boutique hotels place you right in the center of the action. As the capital’s elegant terraces and parks go into full bloom and world-class culture comes to life, summer is a particularly magical time to explore — and these stylish stays offer the perfect base to soak it all in.

Here’s where to go and what not to miss.

Tucked in the heart of fashionable Marylebone “village,” The Marylebone Hotel is a down-to-earth classic in one of the city’s most covetable neighborhoods. It’s within walking distance of independent shops like the legendary Daunt Books (famous for its travel shelves) and such landmarks as Madame Tussauds and the Royal Academy of Music.

The 257 rooms feature luxe touches like marble-clad bathrooms with underfloor heating, while the on-site health club boasts a 60-foot swimming pool and complimentary fitness classes. Don’t miss afternoon tea on the all-seasons Doyle Terrace — a street-side sanctuary with views of the neighborhood’s historic architecture — where the menu includes classic cakes and tarts, sandwiches, and buttermilk scones, served with hot or iced tea (we recommend the spiced iced tea cocktail, mixed with jasmine, melon, ginger, mint, and elderflower).

For a terrace of your own, book the lavish Marylebone Suite: 860 square feet of living space with a Scandi-inspired terrace featuring a retractable roof and blinds, plush sofas and a fireplace.

The Kensington Hotel makes a striking first impression. Spread across a row of grand 19th-century townhouses — one dating as far back as 1770 — its white stucco façade pops against the surrounding red-brick mansions and Georgian architecture. The hotel is just a stone’s throw from Hyde Park (home to British Summer Time concerts, where Gracie Abrams and Sabrina Carpenter are scheduled to perform this July), the Natural History Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum (where hotel guests receive tickets to sold-out shows).

Step inside the hotel and you’re greeted by a Victorian fantasy of soaring ceilings, Waterford crystal chandeliers, and flickering fireplaces — lending the feeling of staying in the London townhouse of your most aristocratic friend. Solo travelers can opt for 150-square-foot “Cosy” rooms, while families gravitate toward the recently renovated 366-square-foot Luxury Studio Suites, which feature spacious living areas, marble bathrooms, separate dressing spaces, and Juliet balconies overlooking the neighborhood’s wide boulevards. Some also connect to adjacent rooms, offering extra space to spread out.

Before heading off to catch a show at the nearby Royal Albert Hall, settle in for dinner at the Town House restaurant — a clubby, low-lit space serving pitch-perfect British classics like dry-aged beef Wellington and fish and chips.

Dating back to the Roaring Twenties, the redbrick Bloomsbury Hotel just off Tottenham Court Road was once a women’s club — and is rumored to be where Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret learned to swim — before being reimagined as a hotel in the 1990s. Set in literary Bloomsbury, a neighborhood long associated with poets, scholars, and the literary avant-garde, the hotel is ideally located for exploring the West End theaters, Soho’s buzzy restaurants, and Covent Garden’s boutiques — all within a 10-minute walk.

Inside, the Martin Brudnizki-designed interiors exude 1920s-style razzmatazz, with vibrant wallpaper, exotic fabrics, and antique flourishes. Pore over rare first editions in the Seamus Heaney Library, enjoy afternoon tea in the lush courtyard terrace, or sip cocktails at the Coral Room, a vibrant, art-filled bar with a devoted local following.

A new collaboration with the AIRE Ancient Baths adds an indulgent wellness twist, offering guests access to thermal pools and massage rituals as part of a pampering overnight package that includes breakfast and luxe Malin + Goetz amenities.