The Resident Kensington Formerly: base2stay The Nadler Kensington

Touted as a Kensington hotel, this 65-room boutique establishment in actual fact is located in the heart of what until the 1990s was London's gay ghetto: Earl's Court. The tube station Earl's Court is immediately around the corner, with trains that will take you in several directions, including a three-minute Piccadilly Line ride to South Kensington (V&A, Natural History Museum etc) and a 13-minute journey to Leicester Square, which puts you within seconds of Soho, Covent Garden and many other things central and fabulous. This slightly tucked-away townhouse is not cheap-cheap, but considering its location and quality it genuinely qualifies as a bargain. Rooms feature mini kitchens and the hotel offers a deal with a local gym. In June 2013 the hotel changed in name only, from base2stay to the Nadler Kensington, with a second branch opened in Soho in the same month. In 2020 Robert Nadler left the company, and the chain was rebranded 'The Resident' (with no discernible changes). Warning: you won't find many remnants of the area's gay past; Britain's most famous gay pub of the last century — the Coleherne — shut down in September 2008 and reopened a few months later as a gastro pub called the Pembroke (261 Old Brompton Rd). Next door to it is the recommended food-and-coffee outlet Troubador [see entry]. Other Nadler outlets: Covent Garden, Victoria and the afore-mentioned Soho.