A city for all seasons - a hotel for all reasons. That's London.

Brown's Hotel on Piccadilly, offers high tea and teddy bears dressed as doormen. The Milestone Hotel, in Kensington, has a real doorman, named Nathan, top hat and all. But when I open my room at the Hilton Waldorf (yes, THE Waldorf) there is a full-sized bronze and chrome art deco female torso on a stand just inside the door.

I know what to do with the tea, the bear, and the doorman but, I ask myself, what should I do with this?

I hang my coat over it. Back to front.

Which just goes to show that London hotels are kicking off any stuffy, stodgy tags they may have had. City hotels are waking up (no, make that revving up) their offerings and even at the luxury end of the market, there is a wider range of options.

And because London is a city geared for walking - or at best, a public transport city - it makes sense to locate yourself in a place where you can venture out in various directions every day of your stay.

So if you want to be centrally located for Hyde Park Corner, Buckingham Palace, Green Park, Piccadilly Circus, and the Theatre District pick The Athenaeum in the heart of the West End, just five underground stops away from the City and on a direct line to Heathrow. 

Brown's Hotel, in Mayfair, is actually a clutch of Georgian townhouses, but from here you can just as easily strike off for Chinatown as the galleries of Bond Street. Or simply stay in for high tea every afternoon from 4pm. This is where you can give your little finger a work out, crooking it delicately as you savour milk-in-first tea from bone china teacups and slender cucumber sandwiches followed by not so slender-making fresh scones piled with jam and cream.

Back on Piccadilly, and even closer to the theatres of the West End, is Le Meridien Piccadilly. Roam the back streets nearby and you will discover quaint pubs and a dozen of the Brit's favourite dinner places - the mandatory curry houses. At the other end of the scale, Fortnum and Mason is just across the street, and ideal for picking up a 'luxe treat for friends back home.

If your need is to be near royalty, check out a couple of Red Carnation properties. These boutique hotels leave nothing to chance. The Rubens Hotel, is located just a few blocks from HM's house, so it's easy to pop up after a late breakfast and watch the Changing of the Guard. For those not into pageantry, a stroll in St James Park and some squirrel feeding can prove just as rewarding.

Opposite the gates to Kensington Palace and its gardens, The Milestone Apartments is where you may check-in to really spoil yourself and relax. Forget anything you know about five-star hotel rooms. Here you have split level apartments crammed with books, rugs, paintings, ornaments and goodies. It's all so personal that I almost bolted after opening my door there, as for a moment I thought I must have broken into somebody's private apartment.

But I should have guessed. The booking sheet had meticulously enquired as to whether I wanted feather pillows, and how many; if I needed DVDs, and if so which ones; and what newspapers I required. I should have realized then that this place takes its guests' comfort very, very seriously.

From here it's just a brisk stroll through the gardens to Peter Pan's statue and The Serpentine, or a leisurely shopping expedition down Kensington Road or to Knightsbridge. It's also, as I discovered, the ideal jumping off point for the famous Notting Hill Markets on a Saturday. 

Across town, on the Thames, the Swissotel Howard, has front row position beside the Thames, and the view from my smart minimalist-decor room, finished off in sleek business traveler browns and creams, captured the sweep from Tower Bridge to the London Eye, as well as everything else: barges, ferries, and people strolling along the Embankment. I could have stayed at my window for hours.

But here too, the location is just too good to waste. Not far away (but made apparently longer by the web of tiny streets and the very real possibility of getting inextricably lost in them) is Covent Garden, crammed with market stalls and trendy shops. Tube stations deliver you easily to all those historic parts of The City such as the Tower of London, St Paul's and Westminster, though, if you are too time-poor (or lazy) to walk.

Much later (after deep consideration) I discovered that my room in the Waldorf was one of some new Arts rooms that had been recently refurbished. Well that explained my sculpture, but I was still unsure whether I should use it or appreciate it. My stay was a short one - not even time to sample a real Waldorf salad (although I checked and it wasn't on the room service menu) so I settled for a side trip to Nelson's column, five minutes away, and fed the pigeons instead.

No excuses - these hotels are at the 'pointy end' of London accommodation. Room rates very enormously depending on the season and availability and dozens of other factors too complex to go into, and none of it is cheap, although the strengthening Aussie dollar has helped a little. However if you want central, luxurious, spoil-yourself-rotten lodgings, all within a tube-stop or two of any of your must-see sightseeing dreams, then this is for you.

Teddy bears, tea, or torsos. You could say London suits me to a T.

FACTFILE

Athenaeum Hotel & Apartments, 116 Piccadilly, London, W1J 7BJ, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Hilton Waldorf, The Aldwych, London, WC2B 4DD, 

Browns Hotel, Albemarle Street, Mayfair, London W1S 4BP, 

Le Meridien Piccadilly, 21 Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BH 

Swissotel Howard,  Temple Place, London, United Kingdom, WC2R 2PR 

The Rubens at the Palace, 39 Buckingham Palace Rd, London SW1W 0PS   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Milestone Hotel,1 Kensington Court, London W8 5DLwww.redcarnationhotels.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it