Corinthia Hotel London

A stratospheric standard of contemporary luxury came to London when Corinthia Hotel London opened in April 2011. The address on Whitehall Place, in a grand, historic building, places guests just a stone’s throw from the Thames, Trafalgar Square, and the National Gallery.

In striking contrast to the restored facade from the days of Queen Victoria, the hotel offers cutting-edge hospitality inside, in everything from its Massimo Restaurant & Oyster Bar (a Mediterranean-style specialty restaurant) to The Northall (for modern British fare); a four-story, state-of-the-art spa (complete with private sleep pods, acupuncturists, and silver steel pool); and the 5,500-square-foot Royal Penthouse, with panoramic views across the river Thames. To cap off the seemingly endless list of wow-factors, the hotel’s Bassoon Bar serves molecular and colonial-inspired cocktails atop a custom-made, 23-foot-long working grand piano.

For sheer magnificence, few settings can rival the Ballroom, newly restored to its 1885 grandeur and flooded with sunlight from south-facing windows. For intimate social and business occasions, planners select from a number of smaller spaces, including six private meeting rooms, three private dining areas, plus the crescent-shaped Courtroom leading to an open, interior courtyard. The latest in audiovisual equipment and hard-wired technology invites planners to go for the heights of creativity, whether in presentations or broadcasting via HD, multi-camera productions.