Hotel: One Aldwych

Address: 1 Aldwych, WC2B 4RH Covent Garden, London

Web site: www.onealdwych.com

TraveLife ranking:

Rooms: 105

Room rates: $450+ - That makes this hotel the most reasonably priced of all London's five-star hotels.

Awards: It’s Lobby Bar is rated among the best in the world. The hotel has also won two major international design competitions. Other awards: Condé Nast Traveller Gold List 2005; Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards 2004; 'Favorite UK Business Hotel' - September 2004; César Award 'London Luxury Hotel of the Year' The Good Hotel Guide 2005 - September 2004; 'Best Hotel in Europe', Leading Hotels of the World Commitment to Quality Awards - November 2003; Condé Nast Johansens Awards - Most Excellent London Hotel - November 2002; Toronto Globe and Mail - 'The best hotel in the world' - May 2001.

Highlights: The hotel offers a signature private screening room that comes complete with blue leather seats with small martini tables adjacent.  It’s perfect for meetings and private parties.

History: The Edwardian building One Aldwych occupies was the former offices of the now-defunct Morning Post newspaper. The property, built in 1907, is now protected by English Heritage.

Interior highlights: The design of the hotel - described as "modern classic" by owner Gordon Campbell Gray appears cold at first glance. A steel mesh wall and polished limestone floor greet you as you enter the hotel.   To help soften the appearance, designer Mary Fox-Linton, with a lot of help from owner Campbell Gray, incorporated dark paneling left over from the building's newspaper past with the steel and limestone and double-height windows. The results are amazing. The hotel also boasts a private contemporary art and sculpture collection of over 400 pieces.

In the next room: The young, hip giants of commerce make One Aldwych their No. 1 choice in London and because the hotel borders the city’s famed theatre district, you’ll regularly see stage actors walking about the hotel and area.

The rooms: The luxurious bedrooms and suites each features original art work, fresh fruit and flowers delivered daily, sumptuous fabrics, and wireless broadband internet access. The rooms and suites have subtle variations on the major design themes. The specially designed carpets flow throughout, but the colors change and no one room is identical to the next. The curtains are made from Thai silks. One of the most striking features of the rooms is the polished chestnut brown terrazzo stone floor in the bathrooms, which gives it a sleek, clean and contemporary look.

Amenities: The Health Club at One Aldwych (boasting a spa and stunning lap swimming pool with piped-in underwater music) offers members a complete personal health and fitness service in a luxurious, contemporary environment.

Restaurants: Besides the Lobby Bar, One Aldwych is also home to London's most exciting restaurants and bars, the hip Axis Restaurant. It offers a classic European menu with a modern twist. The relaxed and informal Indigo Restaurant, overlooking the Lobby Bar, showcases creative modern European cuisine, organic produce, and light and healthy options.

Shopping: The hotel is surrounded by some of the best shops London has to offer. Here you’ll find the latest fashion styles long before they ever make the couturiers’ runways.

Close by: The hotel is within walking distance such famous playhouses as the Royal Festival Hall and the Globe and many of London’s best tourist attractions.

TraveLife tips: One Aldwych ranks up there with London’s other famed hotels but what tells it apart from the Berkeleys, Claridges and Athenauums of this city is its service. From the time the doorman opens the cab door until you’re accompanied to your room, you are made to feel like royalty. You don’t have to be young and hip to stay here but you’ll certainly fell younger. Gordon Campbell Gray’s hotel is a work of art. Ask for one of the corner rooms that look out on the busy shopping area surrounding the property.