Where to stay in London, by the evening you want to walk out into

London is not a city with a centre. It is around thirty towns that grew into each other, and the practical consequence is that "central London" is a phrase used almost exclusively by people selling hotel rooms. A room in Paddington and a room in Shoreditch are both central and they are forty minutes and two entirely different holidays apart.

Choosing the neighbourhood matters more here than in any other European capital. Eight districts, what each one is actually for, and roughly what it costs you.

Covent Garden and Soho

The obvious answer for a first visit, and it mostly holds up. You are walking distance from the West End theatres, the National Gallery, the river and most of what people come for. The eating in Soho is genuinely excellent and runs late by London standards.

The trade is noise and price. Soho does not go quiet until well after one, and a street-facing room on a Friday is a bad idea in any hotel at any rate. Ask for a courtyard or a high floor and mean it.

Stay here if: it is your first trip, you have theatre tickets, and you intend to be out late anyway.

Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia

Ten minutes north and considerably calmer, with garden squares, the British Museum and a long tradition of hotels that are better value than their postcode implies. Fitzrovia in particular has become one of the best places to eat in London without anyone announcing it.

Stay here if: you want to walk into the West End but sleep somewhere residential. This is the single best compromise in London and it is chronically under-booked.

South Bank and Bankside

The river, Tate Modern, Borough Market and the walk from Westminster to Tower Bridge, which is the best hour of most people's first trip. Hotels here are frequently newer, larger and cheaper than the equivalent north of the river.

It is quiet at night, which is either restful or dull depending on your age and intentions. Our Tower Bridge review is at this end of it.

Stay here if: you want river views, museums and a lower rate than the West End.

Shoreditch and Hoxton

East, and the most changed part of London in twenty years. The design hotels are here, the bars are the best in the city, and Spitalfields and Brick Lane are ten minutes on foot. You are also twenty five minutes from Westminster, which matters if the trip is monument-shaped.

Stay here if: you have been to London before, you are here for eating and drinking, and you do not need to see the Abbey.

Notting Hill and Bayswater

Pastel houses, Portobello Road on a Saturday, and the calmest streets on this list. Bayswater beside it has the concentration of mid-range hotels and is markedly cheaper for the same walk to Hyde Park.

The catch is distance. You are thirty to forty minutes from the East End and twenty from the West End, and after three days that adds up to a lot of the Central line.

Stay here if: you want quiet, parks and a Saturday market, and are not trying to see everything.

Mayfair and St James's

The grand hotels, the expensive ones, and the best of London's old-fashioned service. Green Park and Hyde Park either side, Piccadilly and Bond Street between them. It is beautiful, extremely quiet in the evening, and there is almost nowhere affordable to eat.

Stay here if: the hotel is the point of the trip.

King's Cross

Twenty years ago nobody would have suggested this. It is now one of the better neighbourhoods in London: Coal Drops Yard, Granary Square, the British Library, and the Eurostar and six mainline services under one roof. Rates are still below what the location deserves.

Stay here if: you are arriving by train, or combining London with Paris.

Paddington and Marylebone

Marylebone High Street is one of the most pleasant stretches in the city and the hotels around it are quietly excellent. Paddington next door is cheaper, blander, and fifteen minutes from Heathrow on the Express, which is worth real money on a short trip.

Stay here if: you are flying in and out of Heathrow on a two night trip.

The rule in London is that you will spend more time getting places than you expect. Choose the neighbourhood you want to walk out into at eight in the evening, not the one nearest the sights.

The short answer

• First trip, three nights: Covent Garden or Bloomsbury.
• Best value for the location: Bloomsbury, King's Cross or South Bank.
• Second or third trip: Shoreditch.
• With children: South Bank, for the river and the space.
• Two nights from Heathrow: Paddington or Marylebone.
• The hotel is the holiday: Mayfair.

One practical note that applies everywhere: ask which floor and which side. London hotels are frequently converted terraces with a wide variance between rooms of the same grade, and the difference between the front and the back of the building is often the difference between sleeping and not.