Baglioni Hotel London

West London has never been short on top-flight luxury hotels, especially around Knightsbridge, Kensington and Hyde Park. What’s unique about the Baglioni is that it’s so, well, Italian — posh and decadent, almost comically over-the-top, yet without a shred of irony, marked by none of the whimsy and lightness you’ll find in many of London’s home-grown luxury hotels. Country-house style is nowhere in evidence, nor is the icy minimalism that elsewhere passes as high modernity — here the look is unashamedly opulent, in the rich textures of ebony, velvet, gold leaf and black lacquer.

The guest rooms are dark, masculine and romantic, like something from a vampire movie, with black wood floors, rich striped upholstery, king-sized beds piled high with plush bedspreads and Frette linens. In-room amenities include not just the usual flat-screen television and wireless internet but espresso machines as well, and the bathrooms are expansive, decked out in black marble, metal basins and yards of mirrors.

The hotel’s restaurant serves haute Italian cuisine, and the bar is dripping with retro glamour. Many of the Baglioni’s charms lie outside the hotel, in the surrounding neighborhood — Hyde Park is steps away, as are Royal Albert Hall and the surrounding museums, not to mention some of the West End’s finest shopping, including Harrods.