Somewhere bigger than a suite: London's other places to stay

Hotels rarely sell three bedrooms, and when they do the price is startling, which is the main reason to look beyond them in London. Dozens of the residences we list offer three-bedroom apartments and a fair few go to four or more, a size few hotels offer at any price.

What's on offer, and where

The range runs from studios through plenty of one- and two-bedroom apartments to the bigger flats. Among residences that publish prices, the median starting rate is about £270 a night, but that's usually for the smallest apartment in the building, and a three-bedroom flat in the same place will cost more, so compare like for like when you set one against a hotel suite.

The biggest apartments, penthouses and four-bedroom flats among them, cluster mainly in Kensington and then Mayfair. They let a family or a group of colleagues share one kitchen and one living room instead of four hotel corridors, and because there aren't many of them, Christmas and the summer holidays need booking early. Family-sized flats aren't spread evenly elsewhere either. Kensington has by far the most three-bedroom options and nearly every residence in Knightsbridge can do three bedrooms too, while Mayfair is more mixed, Marylebone and Covent Garden have a few and Chelsea has almost none. If you need three bedrooms near Chelsea, Knightsbridge will almost certainly have you covered, though its starting prices are the steepest we see.

A few residences are whole houses, converted mews cottages or townhouses with their own front door onto the street, which suits anyone who'd rather not walk through a lobby at all. The trade-offs are steep stairs and dark ground floors, and our guide to unusual London buildings goes through them.

What you give up, and what you get

Only about half the residences have a reception desk. A gym is the exception rather than the rule, parking and pools are rarer still, and most have no restaurant downstairs and no room service. Housekeeping may be weekly rather than daily, and only a minority list a maid service at all. If you want a concierge who can find a table at short notice, pick a residence with a staffed reception and say so when you ask.

In return you get a kitchen, so breakfast happens when you want it, somewhere proper to work, and a separate room to put the children to bed while you stay up. On a stay of a week or more that counts for more than a lobby bar, and an apartment building has no wedding party in the ballroom or conference crowd at breakfast.

Comparing prices and choosing an area

Ask for the total price for your dates including VAT, then check separately for cleaning fees, a security deposit and any charge for extra housekeeping. Check-in times vary more than at hotels and are often mid-afternoon, so if you land in the morning, ask about an early arrival. Then set the quote against a hotel suite that sleeps the same number of people in the same number of bedrooms, rather than a standard double.

For a short, busy trip that's mostly shopping, Knightsbridge or Mayfair make sense. Families tend to do best in Kensington, which has the most large apartments and Kensington Gardens on the doorstep, while a working week suits Mayfair or Marylebone, both with the Elizabeth line at Bond Street. Covent Garden is the theatre choice, though it has only a handful of residences, so book early. Our area guides go into each properly, but for the biggest apartments and the widest choice, Kensington and Mayfair lead, and everywhere else trades size against location.