The Bloomsbury – Bloomsbury, WC1

A cherished member of The Doyle Collection, an exclusive Irish hotel group that also includes The Kensington and The Marylebone in London, and The Westbury in Dublin, The Bloomsbury is a sympathetic conversion of a Grade II-listed 1930s Lutyens building just a few minutes’ walk from Soho and Covent Garden. Following a multi-million pound investment, the transformation includes a new reception area and luxury studio suites with vintage-style upholstery, statement wallpaper and Italian marble bathrooms. There’s also a library dedicated to Seamus Heaney, comfortable guest sitting room and a stunning, chandeliered 1920s-style bar, The Coral Room, created by the acclaimed Swedish designer, Martin Brudnizki. The hotel’s ever-popular Dalloway Terrace is an enchanting, colourful indoor-outdoor restaurant known for its afternoon tea, while the wonderfully intimate, wood-panelled Bloomsbury Club Bar is a must for a pre- or post-prandial drink with live music most evenings. There’s a sense of calm in this hotel and an understated elegance that shields guests against the hubbub of the outside world.

Doubles from £306

+44 (0)20 7347 1000; doylecollection.com