The Halkin Hotel, London, United Kingdom

For those looking for discretion and classic charm in a luxury hotel in London, the Halkin is pretty much hard to beat. It fuses sleek Italian-influenced style with Oriental philosophy to create a calm and welcoming place where guests in the know return again and again. The Halkin is a classy affair – much more grown-up and demure than its fashion-forward sibling, The Metropolitan .

The facilities

The Halkin’s lobby is decked out in top-to-toe marble, which becomes a regular feature as you move through this luxury hotel. A cosy bar area leads off towards the left. It is mainly used by guests, although a few locals do venture in every evening. The Halkin’s location has much to do with this – although minutes away from Hyde Park Corner, it is tucked away on a quiet little street with minimal traffic.

But the main draw of this luxury hotel for both guests and non-guests is the sublime Nahm restaurant. It’s the only Michelin-starred Thai eatery in the UK, and one of only two in Europe (the other, rather bizarrely, is in Copenhagen). Lunch (served only during weekdays) is a laid-back affair with dishes such as pad thai and kanom jin making a regular appearance. Dinner, however, is grandiose and formal – a veritable banquet of modern Thai cuisine.

The rooms

All 41 bedrooms at the luxury hotel are spacious. They feel light and airy, with solid, expensive furniture and a calm, contemporary palette. Each floor at the Halkin is themed around a different element – fire, wind, water, earth and sky. The curved, minimalist walls of the corridors are fashioned out of carved wooden panels – the doors are pretty discreet and it can take a while to spot them.

As is to be expected from a leading luxury hotel in London, the Halkin’s bedrooms are kitted out splendidly. King size beds have Egyptian cotton sheets. High-tech panels positioned near the pillows control everything from the curtains, to the lighting to the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign. Desks are kitted out with international plug adaptors, the mini-bars are extensive and full-sized bottles of ultra-luxe COMO Shambhala products are available too.