London Hotels

• One block from Regent's Park, this hotel is located 100 yards from the Underground and six blocks from Oxford Street.
  
  
• Soundproofed guestrooms are climate controlled. Décor is a blend of classic and contemporary elements. Amenities include pillow menus.
  
  
• Built in 1936, originally as apartments, this eight-story hotel has a fine Spanish restaurant and a gym with saunas.
  
  

GENERAL INFORMATION:
What to expect: An unusual star-shaped property, this hotel features five wings of guestrooms and private apartments. The chic marble lobby has an eclectic decor, with both a contemporary black granite reception desk and a range of gilt-edged, Rococo-style tables and cabinets. Appealing to executives and vacationers, the central location allows easy access to the business and entertainment districts.

Amenity highlights: This hotel has 24-hour room service, currency exchange, and a business center offering wireless Internet access, photocopying, and printing facilities. Guestroom amenities include pillow menus. The fitness center has 14 cardiovascular workout machines, as well as separate changing facilities for men and women, each with showers and a sauna. In addition to a bar, the hotel has two restaurants: an informal, Mediterranean-style, all-day restaurant and a more formal evening-only dining room.

Insider tip: The hotel is 1 half-mile from the Grand Union Canal, which runs just north of the city's center. Often picturesque, a walk along the canal's towing path escapes the tourist trail and takes in many famous districts, including Little Venice, Camden Town, and Islington. Join the route at the northern perimeter of Regent's Park.

PROPERTY AMENITIES:
Adjoining the conference and banqueting facilities, Melia White House Hotel's business center charges fees for use of a photocopier and booths equipped with a PC, high-speed Internet access, and printer. The fitness center has 14 workout machines, as well as changing facilities for men and women, each with showers and a sauna.

ROOMS:
Melia White House Hotel, London, has 582 guestrooms that mix classical and contemporary elements, with Doric column lamps, black and gilt-colored molding, and brass bedside reading lights wall-mounted on fluted wood. Air conditioning has both wall-mounted and separate bedside control units. All rooms have mahogany work desks with high-speed Internet connections and UK-, US-, and European-style electrical sockets. Marble-and-granite bathrooms have phone extensions, hair dryers, and magnifying mirrors. Other amenities include pillow menus.

DINING:
The Place - A large, bright, and informal Mediterranean-style brasserie, with a terra-cotta-tiled floor, and blue-and-cream upholstered dining chairs and banquettes. A full English and Continental buffet breakfast includes pancakes and a range of organic options, while the lunch and dinner menu offers popular American and European cuisine.

L'Albufera - A fine-dining restaurant, open Monday to Saturday evenings. Tables are well-spaced on polished wood floors, and brass lights are mounted on the silk-covered walls. Diners sit in armed, mahogany chairs to enjoy modern Spanish and international cuisine and a wine list focusing on New World labels.

Longford's Bar - A spacious, wood-paneled sunken lounge, in classical English style. Cream-and-burgundy-colored armchairs and soft pink-and-caramel sofas are scattered around a central U-shaped bar, where wines, spirits, beers, snacks, and a range of cocktails are served. Open all day and evening, when a pianist plays soft music at the grand piano.