Hotel: The Landmark

Address: 222 Marylebone Road, NW1 6JQ, London

Web site: www.landmarklondon.co.uk

TraveLife ranking:

Rooms: 299

Room rates: Start at $500 a night in peak season.

Awards: Voted London’s top hotel in 2003

Highlights: Location, location, location is what makes this completely refurbished hotel a real delight to stay. It’s situated in one of London’s more fashionable areas and is close to Baker Street, home of legendary super sleuth Sherlock Holmes. It’s in easy walking distance of many of the capital’s major tourist attractions. The hotel sits opposite the Marylebone railway and tube station.

History: The Landmark has been a fixture in London since the late 19th century. It has operated under many names, including the Regent. It’s the last of Britain’s great railway hotels, built by the Great Central Railway back in 1899.

Interior highlights: Guests are greeted by an opulent lobby filled with marble and stained glass windows with the names of the cities the railroad once served carved into them. The 8-story indoor atrium is bright and cheery and a great place to sample the hotel’s Sunday tea, which has become as famous as Harrods’s.

In the next room: The Landmark is a favorite hangout of such pop legends as Madonna – she’s now owns a flat nearby – the Rolling Stones and Jason Timberlake.

The rooms: On average, they are considered some of the biggest among London’s space-challenged hotels, which appeals to North American guests. The rooms also offer some of the comfiest beds in the industry, ones chosen from a selection of 20 different types of mattresses brought to the hotel and tested by guests. They also come with large marble bathrooms stuffed with fluffy towels and top of the line toiletries. The rooms are wired, right down to a laptop safe and offer satellite TV.

Amenities: State of the art spa with 12 treatment rooms; workout rooms with Roman lap pool; women’s “kit” containing extra powerful hand-held hair dryer, panty hose, nail polish remover and other facial products you may have left at home.

Restaurants: Winter Garden Café located in the atrium area where you can breakfast and tea under the sun and dinner under the stars.

Shopping: The hotel’s mezzanine floor is ringed with upscale shops. The men’s shop is one of the best in London and gets many orders for its custom-made suits and shirts.

Close by: London’s theatre district; the National Gallery; Regents Park; Oxford Street; Selfridges department store.

Tips: The hotel offers many online deals and is one of the best 5-star bargains in a city where there’s not many hotel deals. The rooms alone will put you in a good frame of mind. It may not be the best known hotel in London but you’ll like what you get.