Two London hotels have been named among the best in the world in a new prestigious list

The outside of the Chancery Rosewood hotel. — (Image credit: Rosewood)

London is full of posh postcodes with even more lovely and luxurious hotels sprinkled across the city. From Mayfair’s townhouses to converted embassies, the fight for the title of ‘most prestigious’ is a hotly contested one. However, two shiny spots have been praised as the swankiest of them all.

The folks over at Travel + Leisure have got us covered with knowing the style-over-substance swanky from the actually-worth-it price tags. Which is useful if, like me, the closet you’ve got to a five star hotel is stealing the toiletries bag from a long-haul flight. As part of Travel + Leisure’s ‘It List’ for 2026, the experts compiled hundreds of the world’s best hotels, ranking them in categories which ranged from the Best City Hotels, to Splurge-Worthy Stays, and Affordable Luxury amongst others.

The Chancery Rosewood

First up on the list is the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Chancery Rosewood, a Grade II listed building that was formerly the actual U.S Embassy. Unsurprisingly the swanky spot can be found in Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, and it’s a pretty impressive feat after only opening in 2025. The hotel features a whopping eight bars and restaurants, thermal spa, pools, and a whole host of plush suits. The average price tag for a night here is around £1,700 – and that’s for the more junior suits rather than the all-out creme de la creme which can reach upwards of £18,000. Unsurprisingly, it won its place on the list under the ‘splurge worthy’ category.

The Newman

Over in Fitzrovia you’ll find The Newman Hotel, which earned a place on Travel and Leisure’s list under ‘Best City Hotels’. Similar to The Chancery Rosewood, it’s one of London’s latest additions to the hotel scene, opening up back in February. It’s a little smaller than The Chancery with 81 rooms to the former’s 144, and is home to two eateries, including Brasserie Angelica, and the Gambit Bar, a speakeasy style spot underneath the main hotel. It lives up on the wellness front too, with a Nordic inspired spa with plenty of treatments and classes to soak up, leaving you relaxed enough to make you forget you’re actually in the bustling capital. Prices for a night’s stay at the hotel are on the less fear-inducing side, with the cheapest rooms available for around £450, with Studio style rooms around £550 depending on when you're looking to stay.

The judges commended the hotel's style, noting the "Art Deco–adjacent geometrics, swirly marbles, and a coffeehouse palette of rich espressos and chocolatey mochas set the tone across its 81 rooms" adding that the "Burr wood, custom art, and velvet furnishings are edited to a just-right mix."

You can browse the full list here.

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Hermione Blandford is the Content Editor for Shortlist’s social media which means you can usually find her scrolling through Instagram and calling it work, or stopping random people in the street and accosting them with a mini mic. She has previously worked in food and drink PR for brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Gordon's, The Singleton, Lagavulin and Don Julio which means she is a self confessed expert in spicy margaritas and pints, regularly popping into the pub in the name of research.