London | places to stay, things to do

standing guard at Buckingham Palace

Looking for a great place to stay in London? A Virtuoso travel advisor can save you money with perks like free daily breakfasts, hotel credits, and room upgrades — typically at the same flexible rate that you're seeing online — and there's no cost for you to use a travel advisor.

We can save you money at over 50 luxury hotels in London (there's some overlap here, so the numbers add up to more than 50). See them on my Google maps of our London hotels by clicking here and here.

24 hotels come with Virtuoso amenities
2 hotels come with Dorchester Diamond Club amenities
2 hotels come with Four Seasons Preferred Partner amenities
27 hotels come with Travel Leaders Select amenities
2 hotels come with Starwood Luxury Privileges amenities
3 hotels come with Doyle Collection amenities
23 hotels come with Celebrated Perks

I'm flying to London on Thursday evening to do some hotel site inspections ... but also to write about some unique experiences that a Virtuoso travel advisor can arrange for you.

1. The Churchill War Rooms — actually going into the cabinet rooms, not seeing them from behind glass like most tourists must.

2. The Changing of the Guard — seen from the Wellington Barracks where the Guard begins and ends its parade, not from the midst of the huge crowd that gathers daily in front of Buckingham Palace.

3. Downton Abbey — I'm guessing here, because the actual activity is supposed to be a surprise; visiting Highclere Castle (setting of Downton Abbey) and meeting Jim Carter (who played the butler, Carson, in the series).

copyright (c) 2016 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.