Hotel brands
Hotel brands range from a Raffles inside the Old War Office on Whitehall to an ibis two minutes from Southwark station. Start from a brand you know, and see where its hotels put you in each city.
The brands, by segment
Luxury
- Hotels in our lists: 2
Sofitel brings a French accent to London, in two hotels made for very different nights. At Sofitel London St James, our pick in the city, a Turkish hammam and a MICHELIN-starred table sit 300 m from Piccadilly Circus.
How does Accor group its hotel brands?
Accor sorts its brands into five segments on its own brand page: Luxury, Lifestyle by Ennismore, Premium, Midscale and Economy. Each brand on this page sits in the segment Accor gives it, even where other guides file it differently. Accor places MGallery Collection under Luxury, for example, and Pullman and Swissôtel under Premium, the segment between Luxury and Midscale.
The 21 hotels in Best hotels in London belong to twelve brands. Sofitel, Fairmont and Raffles are Luxury brands. Morgans Originals, The Hoxton and Hyde come under Lifestyle by Ennismore, the heading for brands run by Ennismore, Accor's lifestyle arm, in which Accor holds the majority stake. Pullman is the one Premium brand in that list. Novotel, Mercure, TRIBE and Adagio are Midscale, and ibis is Economy. Novotel has the most hotels in the list, five, from the 39-storey tower at Canary Wharf to Paddington in the west.
Does a hotel's brand tell me whether it has a pool or a spa?
The brand gives a poor guide to the facility list. Accor's segment describes the service level of a brand, and the pool, the spa and their hours change from one hotel to the next. Sofitel London St James is a Luxury hotel with no pool and no sauna on its official pages, though its spa has four treatment rooms and a hammam. Novotel London Blackfriars is Midscale and has an indoor heated pool 12 m wide and 1.2 m deep, with a combined sauna and steam room, and no treatment room. Pullman London St Pancras, the Premium hotel, has a sauna open 06:00 to 23:00 and a gym open 24 hours, with no spa and no pool.
Look for treatment rooms when a spa is the reason for your booking: a sauna or a gym on its own does not make one. Before you book on the strength of a brand name, open the hotel's own spa or wellness page and read the published hours.
Which Accor brand fits which kind of London stay?
For a starred dinner and a full spa, look at the Luxury brands. The Savoy, A Fairmont Hotel and Raffles London at The OWO hold three MICHELIN Keys each and both publish an indoor pool, and Sofitel London St James holds one Key, with a one-star restaurant in the building. For design hotels and late bars, the Lifestyle hotels fit better: the Long Bar at Sanderson London runs 80 feet of lit onyx, Blind Spot at St Martins Lane London stays open until 02:00 at weekends, and The Hoxton Southwark hands over rooms from 14:00.
Pullman London St Pancras, the Premium address, is a one-minute walk from King's Cross St Pancras. Among the Midscale brands, Novotel publishes indoor pools at Canary Wharf, Blackfriars and Paddington, Adagio gives each studio and apartment a kitchen, and TRIBE keeps rooms of 14 m² to 21 m² for two guests at most. The three ibis hotels, in the Economy segment, stand between 100 m and 1 km from a station and list no gym, pool or spa.
Frequently asked questions
Which Accor brands in London hold MICHELIN Keys?
Three Luxury brands do. Fairmont and Raffles hold three Keys each through The Savoy, A Fairmont Hotel and Raffles London at The OWO, and Sofitel holds one through Sofitel London St James. No hotel from the Lifestyle, Premium, Midscale or Economy brands in Best hotels in London holds a Key, and neither does Sofitel London Heathrow.
Which Accor brand has the most hotels in the London list?
Novotel, with five of the 21 hotels in Best hotels in London: Canary Wharf, Blackfriars, Tower Bridge, Paddington and Excel. All five are rated four stars on all.accor.com, and entry rooms run from 21 m² to 25 m². Three of them publish an indoor pool, at Canary Wharf, Blackfriars and Paddington, and none has a spa with treatment rooms.
Which Accor brand suits a long stay with a kitchen?
Adagio, a Midscale brand of aparthotels. In London, Aparthotel Adagio London City East gives each of its 132 studios and apartments a full kitchen with a dishwasher, up to a four-bedroom apartment of 117 m² for eight, with weekly housekeeping from eight nights. Aparthotel Adagio London Stratford has kitchens in all 136 units and adds an indoor playground for children.
Which brand is our pick from?
Our pick comes from Sofitel: Sofitel London St James is No. 1 in Best hotels in London for its MICHELIN Key, Wild Honey St James with one MICHELIN star and a spa with a Turkish hammam, 300 m from Piccadilly Circus. It has no pool, so travellers who want to swim should look at The Savoy, A Fairmont Hotel or Raffles London at The OWO.
Is Pullman a luxury brand?
No, Accor files Pullman under Premium, the segment it places between Luxury and Midscale, together with Swissôtel and Mövenpick. Pullman London St Pancras, the brand's hotel in our London list, has 312 rooms, a gym open 24 hours and a sauna open 06:00 to 23:00, with no spa and no pool, 200 m from King's Cross St Pancras.