Knightsbridge Hotel, Firmdale Hotels

The Knightsbridge Hotel is the perfect modestly priced entrée into one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the world. In fact the Knightsbridge is the ideal shopper’s hotel, a sort of junior version of its sisters, Covent Garden and Charlotte Street, with a correspondingly lower nightly rate, leaving plenty of room on the credit cards for expeditions to Harrods and Harvey Nichols, as well as the shops of Sloane Street and Brompton Cross.

Though the building, on a quiet wooded cul-de-sac, is classic Georgian townhouse, the interiors are inventive, as we’ve come to expect from Tim and Kit Kemp. Tired country house clichés be damned—here you’ll find a lobby full of modern artworks, an African-themed drawing room, where cozy armchairs huddle round the fireplace, and a soft pastel-toned library, complete with honor bar.

Guest rooms are impressive as well, decorated in a similar eclectic style, lighter and airier than you might expect, with rich fabrics, luxe furnishings and thick canopy beds. The bathrooms are a vision in granite and oak, with deep cast iron tubs and the obligatory Miller Harris bath products. These rooms are fit for business as well, with writing desks, private safes and high-speed internet access.

There’s no restaurant, in keeping with the relative minimalism of the Knightsbridge, just room service, and breakfast served in the sitting rooms. You won’t mind, though, as you’re here to enjoy the neighborhood, not the lobby. Any number of dining options are to be had in the immediate area, and did we mention the shopping? If there’s a drawback at all, it’s that once you get used to staying here, you may begin to fantasize that you could actually live here. For those of us who are not yet in the market for a home in Chelsea, though, there’s always the Knightsbridge.