The splurge: The Savoy

The Savoy is the grand old dame of London hotels — a five-star icon on the Strand that has been doing luxury since the 1880s, when it became the first British hotel with electric lights and electric lifts. With review scores around 4.7 out of 5 from more than 5,000 guest reviews and a Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice award, it remains the benchmark.

Why we’d book it:

The location is almost unfair. The Savoy is the only luxury hotel sitting right on the River Thames, steps from Covent Garden’s theatres and the Royal Opera House, with select rooms overlooking the river itself.

The dining is a destination. Three Gordon Ramsay restaurants — including the legendary Savoy Grill — plus the American Bar, London’s oldest cocktail bar, and a world-famous afternoon tea.

It has a proper wellness floor. The fourth-floor wellness area holds a heated indoor pool in a bright atrium, a sauna, a steam room, and a modern gym — a rarity among historic London hotels.

The details are immaculate. Reviewers consistently praise the service, the immaculate rooms, and touches like the bespoke Savoy Steam fragrance and a dedicated children’s welcome — it’s five-star hospitality in the truest sense.

The sweet spot: The Hoxton, Shoreditch

Lonely Planet once called the original Hoxton “hands down the best hotel deal in London,” and the Shoreditch flagship still earns it: a 4-star boutique hotel with review scores around 4.5 out of 5 and a 2026 Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice award. It sits in the middle of east London’s gallery-and-nightlife scene — and it’s about two miles from the Tower of London, which pairs nicely with our Tower of London guide.

Why we’d book it:

The rooftop Peruvian restaurant. The rooftop hosts the Llama Inn, a Peruvian restaurant with city views — dinner with a skyline is never a bad plan.

It feels like a hangout, not a hotel. There’s a fashionable grill restaurant with exposed brick walls, a funky lobby bar, a library, and meeting spaces that stay lively into the evening.

The basics are done right. Free Wi-Fi, a free breakfast bag delivered to your room, rainfall showerheads, and tea and coffee facilities — the kind of thoughtful touches mid-range hotels usually skip.

Getting around is easy. It’s about a 6-minute walk to Old Street tube station, 12 minutes’ walk from Brick Lane’s curry houses, with bicycle rental if you’d rather pedal.

The smart save: Point A Hotel London Kings Cross – St Pancras

Point A calls itself “budget boutique,” and the Kings Cross outpost backs it up: a rating of 8.0 from roughly 25,000 guest ratings, with guests praising the friendly staff and the breakfast. The rooms are compact by design — the cheapest are even windowless — but everything is crisp, modern, and comfortable.

Why we’d book it:

The location is a transport dream. It’s a short walk from King’s Cross and St Pancras stations — six tube lines, national rail, and the Eurostar. Arrive by train and you’re basically at the hotel in minutes.

The essentials are excellent. Hypnos beds, power showers, air conditioning, free high-speed Wi-Fi, express self-service check-in, and a 24-hour reception — the things that actually determine how well you sleep.

It punches above its price. There’s a bar, a well-reviewed breakfast buffet, luggage storage, and late check-out available — more than you’d expect at this price in central London.

A fair warning from reviewers: ask for a higher-floor room away from the street for the quietest nights.

Booking tips for London

1. Stay in Zone 1 or 2, near a tube line The tube is fast and frequent, but only if you’re near it. Any hotel within a few minutes’ walk of a station in Zones 1–2 puts the whole city within 30 minutes. A “cheap” hotel in Zone 4 will cost you an hour of your day, every day.
2. Pick your neighborhood by trip type First-timers: Covent Garden, South Kensington, or Bloomsbury for walkable sights. Nightlife and design: Shoreditch or Soho. Value and transport: Kings Cross or Paddington. Choose vibe first — the tube handles the rest.
3. Book summer early, winter late London sells out and prices spike from June through September. Book two to three months ahead for summer; in winter you can often grab deals weeks out. Check whether breakfast is included before comparing prices — it can swing the real cost by £20–£40 a day.

What your ticket includes

This is the Tower of London and Crown Jewels Exhibition Ticket — full entry to the Tower grounds, the White Tower, and the Crown Jewels display. The Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) guided tours are included in admission: they set off roughly every 30 minutes from the moat, are given in English, and run first-come, first-served — no advance booking for the tour itself. Just check the day’s times on the boards when you enter.

A note from the fine print: during busy periods you can still expect some queues for the Crown Jewels themselves, and there’s no re-entry once you leave. Multi-language audio guides are available at the Tower for an additional fee if you’d rather explore at your own pace.

The Crown Jewels first

Do the Jewel House before anything else. The queue is shortest in the first half hour after opening and grows steadily through the morning. Inside, you’ll glide past the coronation regalia on a moving walkway — including the Imperial State Crown, which alone carries 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and 5 rubies. In total the collection holds 23,578 gems, and it is still used in royal ceremonies today. Photography isn’t allowed inside the exhibition, so look with your eyes, not your lens.

The White Tower, the ravens, and the Beefeaters

After the jewels, climb the White Tower — the 11th-century Norman keep at the heart of the fortress — for the Royal Armouries collection of arms and armor, then tiptoe through a reconstructed medieval bedchamber. Outside, the Yeoman Warders (the famous Beefeaters) bring the Tower’s bloodiest tales to life on their free guided tours; they meet by the moat and are worth planning your morning around.

Then walk Tower Green, the quiet lawn where many executions took place — including two of Henry VIII’s wives — and look for the Tower’s ravens, whose presence is said to guard the kingdom itself. Legend says that if the ravens ever leave, the Tower will fall.

Tips for a smooth visit

1. Arrive in the first 30–45 minutes The Crown Jewels attract the longest queues all day. Entering close to opening time usually means a relaxed visit and far shorter waits at the Jewel House.
2. Catch a Beefeater tour early The Yeoman Warder talks start regularly through the day from the moat and are included with your ticket. Join one early — it orients the whole visit and the stories are the highlight.
3. Pack light and wear good shoes Everyone passes through airport-style security, and large luggage isn’t allowed inside. The grounds mean cobblestones, spiral staircases, and uneven stone floors — comfortable shoes are non-negotiable.
4. Come by public transport Tower Hill Underground station is only a few minutes’ walk away. Driving into central London means congestion charges, traffic, and expensive parking.

The splurge: Pulitzer Amsterdam

The Pulitzer isn’t a hotel so much as a small village: 25 interlinked 17th- and 18th-century canal houses woven together into one labyrinthine property on the Prinsengracht. The corridors wind, the staircases surprise, and half the fun is getting a little lost on the way to your room.

Why we’d book it:

You sleep inside history. Exposed beams, timber floors, and Dutch-tiled bathrooms make rooms feel like the canal houses they are — while the beds, bathrooms, and service are firmly five-star. Ask for a canal-view room; watching boats drift past from your window is the whole point.

The inner garden is a secret. Behind the facades sits a tranquil courtyard garden with a café — one of those rare quiet pockets in the middle of the old center, perfect for a slow morning coffee.

It has its own canal boat. The Pulitzer’s 1909 saloon boat, The Tourist, runs private canal cruises — the natural pairing for our evening canal cruise guide. Few hotels in the world can put you on the water in a century-old vessel from your own lobby.

Dinner is sorted. Jansz, the all-day restaurant, is one of the better hotel restaurants in the city, and Pulitzer’s Bar does a serious cocktail program in an intimate, jewel-toned room.

The sweet spot: Volkshotel

Set in the former headquarters of the Volkskrant newspaper, the Volkshotel is the rare mid-range hotel that feels like a destination in itself. The industrial bones are still there — raw concrete, big windows, artist-designed rooms — but the energy is all play.

Why we’d book it:

The rooftop is the best seat in the east. Canvas, the 7th-floor restaurant and sky bar, serves dinner with 360-degree city views and turns into a club with DJs on weekend nights. One floor up, the rooftop spa has wooden hot tubs and a sauna overlooking the skyline — sunset from a hot tub is a core Amsterdam memory.

There’s always something on. The Doka basement club hosts live music and DJ sets, the lobby’s Werkplaats hums with freelancers and good coffee, and the whole building runs like a small creative village rather than a hotel.

Getting around is effortless. The Wibautstraat metro station is about 50 meters away, putting Amsterdam Centraal under ten minutes away, and the hotel rents bikes — the Amstel river is two minutes’ ride, the lively De Pijp five.

With a review score around 8.9 from more than ten thousand guest reviews, it’s one of the most consistently loved mid-range stays in the city.

The charmer: Cocomama

Cocomama calls itself Amsterdam’s first boutique hostel, and it earns the title. Set in a grand old canal-side building on the edge of De Pijp — once a brothel, now thoroughly reformed — it’s the kind of place that makes budget travel feel like a choice rather than a compromise.

Why we’d book it:

The rooms have personality. Each room carries a Dutch theme — Delft blue, tulips, canal houses — and the building’s bones (lofty ceilings, marble entry, chandeliers) survived the renovation beautifully. Dorms are comfortable with privacy curtains; private doubles exist but book out fast.

The location is quietly perfect. Close enough to walk to the Museumplein and the Rijksmuseum, steps from the Albert Cuyp street market and the Heineken Experience, in a residential pocket that stays calm when the center gets loud.

It feels like a home, not a hostel. There’s a bright communal living room, a guest kitchen, a hidden back garden, an honor bar, movie nights, affordable bike rentals, and a famously friendly resident cat. The staff’s restaurant recommendations alone are worth the stay.

Booking tips for Amsterdam

1. Book canal-view rooms earlyThe rooms everyone wants — canal-facing, upper floors, quiet side of the building — are also the fewest. For spring and summer trips, lock these in months ahead; they’re the first to sell out and the last to discount.
2. Budget for the tourist taxAmsterdam levies one of the highest tourist taxes in Europe, charged per person per night on top of the room rate. It won’t break the trip, but it does add up — factor it in before comparing prices across cities.
3. Choose location over starsA well-located three-star near the canals beats a four-star out by the highway. In Amsterdam you spend your days walking, cycling, and boating — every tram ride back to a far-flung hotel is time not spent on the water.