Studio, two-bed or a whole mews house?

Studios are harder to find than people expect. Two-bed flats, on the other hand, are nearly as common as one-beds across the residences we list, and whole houses are the rarest of the lot, which is worth knowing before you set your heart on a mews.

Studios and one-beds

A studio puts bed, sofa and kitchen in one room, with the bathroom off it. That's fine for a single business traveller or a couple on a short trip who'll be out all day, but not many residences offer them, so they go quickly in busy months. The catch shows up the first time you try to work from one, and if a video call means perching on the bed with the hob behind you, the extra for a one-bed is money well spent.

One-beds are the workhorse. A proper door between bedroom and living room changes any stay longer than a few nights, because one person can sleep while the other works or watches telly. For a benchmark, the national space standard for new homes puts a one-bedroom, two-person flat at a minimum of 50 square metres. Serviced apartments don't have to meet it, though it's a handy figure to hold a listing up against.

Two bedrooms and up

Two-beds are the usual pick for a family with one or two children, two colleagues sharing, or a couple who want a spare room for a visiting parent. Check the bathrooms, since lots of two-beds in converted buildings have one bathroom and a separate loo rather than two en suites, and remember that the same standard sets a good deal more floor area for a two-bed, four-person home when a listing looks small.

Three-bedroom flats are easy enough to find, and a fair number of buildings go to four or more. This is where an apartment beats hotel rooms most plainly, because a family of five would otherwise need two or three rooms and eat every meal out. Bigger flats tend to be in mansion blocks and period conversions rather than new towers, which brings high ceilings and a bit of character and sometimes a staircase where you'd want a lift, so ask if anyone in the party struggles with stairs.

Among residences that publish a price, the typical starting rate is about £270 a night, with some well below that and a few far above. Those rates are for each building's smallest unit, so a three-bed in the same place will cost more.

Penthouses, mews houses and aparthotels

A penthouse is the top-floor flat, usually with more room, better light and, with luck, a terrace. Outdoor space of any kind is rare in central London, so in summer a terrace is worth paying for. Penthouses are normally the priciest unit in the building, and they get booked well ahead for big events and the school holidays.

Mews are the narrow lanes of old stables and coach houses tucked behind the grand terraces of Mayfair, Marylebone, Belgravia and Kensington. Converted, they make small houses with their own front door on a cobbled street, usually quiet at night. What you give up is the building: there's rarely a reception, a porter or a lift, and the layout is often upside down, with bedrooms downstairs and the kitchen up. For a family who want a house to themselves, that's a fair swap.

Aparthotel rooms sit somewhere between a hotel and a serviced apartment building, mostly studios with a kitchenette, a 24-hour front desk and short minimum stays, often a single night. They work well for a two- or three-night work trip. Stay longer, or bring the family, and the kitchenette and the single room start to feel cramped inside a week.