According to the 2025 State of London Luxury report from Walpole, the official body for UK luxury sectors, London remains one of the world’s most visited destinations and has more centimillionaires ($100 million-plus) than any other European city.

Demand is extraordinary across all luxury hotel sectors, explains Kenneth Hatton, head of hotels, Europe at CBRE, which estimates 2025 hotel investment across London and the UK totaled more than $6 billion.

This year, London will see the debut of Six Senses London, the redevelopment of the former Whiteleys department store by Foster + Partners, EPR Architects, and AvroKO; the 68-room Zetter Bloomsbury arrives in April, the handiwork of James Thurstan Waterworth; and Waldorf Astoria London – Admiralty Arch will come online this summer inside a 1912 Grade I monument commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mother, Queen Victoria. It will join the Maison 191-designed Sir Devonshire Square, which opened in a former East India Tea Company warehouse as the first UK property for Liran Wizman’s Amsterdam-based Sircle Collection.

A show kitchen is the centerpiece of Whiteley’s Kitchen at Six Senses London

While true luxury hotels rely on the retail, galleries, and restaurants making Mayfair/Knightsbridge their center of gravity, scarcity of supply forces investors to find opportunities elsewhere.

“London is a collection of neighborhoods, each alive with its own sense of place,” Hatton says. “With the rising wealth and projected growth in corporate and leisure travel over the coming years, there will still be a place for successful luxury products in other neighborhoods, especially those delivering the essence of the local area in their storytelling.”

Traveling across London, we look at the hotels fueling the city’s boom.

Covent Garden

In July, Covent Garden will see the arrival of the Webster (a second property makes its debut this winter in New York’s Times Square). Comprising three F&B venues and an outdoor lounge, the concept from London firm Red Deer is rooted in magical realism and the literary heritage of the hotel’s location at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, which inspired characters invented by Charles Dickens.

“The Webster was born out of a belief that there’s a real gap in the market for hotels that are genuinely connected to the neighborhoods they sit in,” says Patrick Chiappetta, CEO of Altus Hospitality, the lifestyle property management arm of Club Quarters Hotels. “Covent Garden—where history, theatre, literature, and contemporary culture collide—felt like a natural home for the brand’s debut.”

Making a splash in the fall is Ergon House, with Shaftesbury Capital developing the London flagship for the brand’s first hotel outside of Greece. Destined to be a kindred spirit with the Covent Garden vibe, the 20-room boutique features spaces designed by Greece-based Urban Soul Project as well as local artists.

Fitzrovia

Elegant elements characterize Brasserie Angelica, the Newman’s all-day restaurant

The Newman debuted in February as the first project from Paul Brackley’s hospitality management and operations brand Kinsfolk & Co. With interiors from locally based Lind + Almond and architectural planning by London’s ReardonSmith Architects, the 81-key new build distills the essence of Fitzrovia through a design sparked by flamboyant characters who instigated the area’s reputation.

For example, the signature bangles worn by British poet, shipping heiress, and political activist Nancy Cunard inspired the headboards, while symbols popularized by Aleister Crowley appear as brass floor inlays in the Gambit bar.

The semiprivate Stage lounge accommodates up to 16 guests inside Gambit Bar at the Newman

“This hotel had to compete with the best in London,” says Lind + Almond cofounder Richy Almond. Adds cofounder Pernille Lind: “Quality and design go hand in hand. If the materials aren’t long-lasting, then the design isn’t either.”

Kensington

Bold red hues define Kenny’s restaurant and bar in the Cura Hotel Kensington

The Cura Hotel Kensington, a 132-room Tribute Portfolio hotel from Marriott, debuted in November with a modern design from IA Interior Architects that nods to notable figures from the Victorian heritage of Earl’s Court. Carpet and wallcovering patterns are inspired by textile designer William Morris, while the wit of artist and satirist William Hogarth (namesake of the hotel’s address) resonates through quirks such as upside-down teacups mounted on the restaurant’s ceiling.

“Having a local design team allowed us to interpret Kensington’s architectural language authentically,” says Veronica Givone, IA’s managing director of hospitality, EMEA. “Arts and Crafts-inspired botanicals, sculptural arches, tactile velvets, and local artwork create a layered interior that feels genuinely rooted in place.”

Mayfair

Cambridge House Mayfair will open in mid-2026 as a 102-room hotel in the Duke of Cambridge’s former residence

Cambridge House Mayfair opens mid-2026 with architect Studio PDP transforming an 18th-century Georgian mansion and a Grade I-listed Palladian-style townhouse into the UK’s first Auberge Collection property. With interiors by Paris-based talents Jean-Louis Deniot and Laura Gonzalez, the 102-room hotel was the Duke of Cambridge’s former home and then the celebrated In and Out Military Club.

Additionally, the Chancery Rosewood, set within the Grade II former U.S. Embassy on leafy Grosvenor Square, debuted in September. An all-star team (including David Chipperfield Architects, ReardonSmith Architects, Joseph Dirand, Tristan Auer, AvroKO, Bar Studio, Sagrada, Yabu Pushelberg, and Albion Nord) reimagined architect Eero Saarinen’s “palace on the park,” preserving the building’s diagrid façade while adding rooftop terraces and the Asaya Spa.

For the latter, Yabu Pushelberg created a counterpoint to the building’s brutalist style. “Rather than bringing the building’s exterior language into the spa, we introduced a softer expression—one aligned with Rosewood’s vision of residential warmth and English sensibilities,” says firm cofounder George Yabu.

Inspired by the sunlit shores of Italy and Greece, Serra restaurant in the Chancery Rosewood is a refined take on the Mediterranean

Montcalm Mayfair, the new Montcalm Collection flagship developed by Precis Advisory, revealed a design rooted in restraint, intentionality, and craft. London-based architecture studio Holland Harvey restored the hotel’s Grade II 18th-century façade, adding an extension that houses 15 of local firm Studio Mica’s 150 new guestrooms and suites. “Luxury is conveyed through subtle layering and spatial generosity,” says studio director Carolynne Shenton. “Large beds, deep seating, and carefully considered clear vanities create a calm, effortless atmosphere where each element feels intentional and nothing competes for attention.”

Public spaces, Yatra spa, and Korean-Japanese restaurant Lilli—all by London’s Studio Est—feature elements from social-impact businesses such as handmade, naturally felled wood furniture from Goldfinger Factory and embroidered linen accessories made by refugee artists through SEP Jordan.

Montcalm Mayfair’s guestrooms and suites celebrate the site’s Georgian gardens, where light green tones marry natural light

With a mid-2026 arrival, the St. Regis Mayfair marks the brand’s eagerly awaited return to the UK with interiors by Richmond International. The former Westbury Mayfair and Luxury Collection property is undergoing a full renovation plus an expansion that includes a new second-level basement, 196 rooms, and a polo bar.

The Shepherd Mayfair launches in the second quarter of this year with a design by Shepherd& inspired by the area’s layered history at Shepherd Market, two village-like squares that hosted fairs every May during the 18th century, which led to the district’s name of Mayfair.

Victoria

The Adler restaurant awaits inside the July London, an aparthotel steeped in Art Deco influences

Combining two former townhouses—one hotel and two office buildings—the interiors for the July London boast a lively palette, 1930s-inspired furniture, and natural materials that span the 141 apartments, lobby, and F&B spaces.

Local and Los Angeles-based firm Fettle found inspiration in the Art Deco aesthetics of the nearby Apollo Theatre and Edwin Lutyen’s Page Street social housing estate, as well as leafy Hyde Park. “We used these elements to create an experience where guests immediately feel at home,” says firm cofounder and creative director Andy Goodwin, while “creating a fresh new addition to London’s hotel scene.”

A vibrant color palette, 1930s-style furnishings, and natural elements meld across the July London

Photos by Ben Anders, Ursula Armstrong, Helen Cathcart, Steve Herud, David Iliff, Martin Morrell, Will Pryce, and courtesy of Auberge

This article originally appeared in HD’s February/March 2026 issue.