Every December, London's grand hotels treat the festive season as a competitive sport. Trees go up, lobbies turn into winter scenes, and the race to unveil the most elaborate decorations has become an annual spectacle in its own right — one that Condé Nast Traveller has just chronicled in its roundup of the city's best Christmas hotels.
The bar was set high last year. At The Dorchester in Mayfair, a writer stayed up through the night to watch the transformation firsthand: a 15-foot tree dressed by the team, plus a model of the London skyline built entirely from gingerbread. Not to be outdone, Claridge's commissioned designer Daniel Lee to create its tree — a 16-foot statement piece trimmed with bows made from surplus Burberry fabrics, an upcycling twist that drew crowds and column inches alike.
But the festive push isn't only aimed at adults with a champagne budget. Several properties go big for younger guests. Children staying at The Connaught over Christmas receive a personalised letter from Father Christmas before they even check in, and Raffles London at The OWO deploys its own 'elves' to hand out gifts. It's a reminder that for plenty of families, the hotel itself is the Christmas outing.
The Condé Nast Traveller editors name a few standouts by category. The Connaught takes the family crown; The Goring — the Belgravia hotel with royal connections — is their pick for Christmas lunch itself; and The Ritz London wins on afternoon tea, that most civilised of festive traditions, complete with carols and tiered stands of seasonal treats. The list mixes big luxury names with smaller, characterful boltholes, chosen for design, location, service and sustainability credentials, and updated regularly as the city's hotel scene evolves.
Why bother planning a hotel visit at all? Because London at Christmas is famously busy, and the hotels offer a warm, weather-proof slice of the season: a theatrical tree to admire, a long tea to linger over, and often a bar worth staying for. Even if you're not overnighting, most of the big-name lobbies and teas are open to non-guests — though December slots at the likes of The Ritz sell out weeks in advance, so booking early is less a tip than a necessity. If you are staying, consider timing your visit to see the decorations shortly after they launch in mid-to-late November, when the trees are fresh and the crowds thinner than in the final week before Christmas.
For families, The Connaught's letter-from-Santa touch is the kind of detail children remember; for couples, a Claridge's or Dorchester afternoon followed by a stroll down decorated Mount Street or through Burlington Arcade covers the festive checklist in an afternoon. Either way, the message from this year's roundup is clear: London's hotels have turned Christmas into a season-long show, and the front-row seats are worth booking.
Original source: Condé Nast Traveller UK