The Rubens at the Palace

Specialists in royal-friendly, conventional English poshness, the Rubens at the Palace offers 5-star opulence and white-glove hospitality, with 151 rooms and ten luxury suites marked by "red velvet tapestries, rich brocade, Venetian mirrors and chandeliers". Part of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection, which operates in the UK, Ireland, the US, Guernsey, Switzerland and South Africa, where it all started back in the early 1920s, when Solomon Tollman opened a hotel in Paternoster, a small fishing village. Located just down the road from where the Queen used to live. Tube station: Victoria.