4* The Hoxton, Shoreditch

Park Plaza London Riverbank is one of the handier mainstream hotels if your London plans include Vauxhall. The Royal Vauxhall Tavern and the area’s late-night LGBTQ+ scene are within walking distance, while Westminster sits directly across the Thames. It also works surprisingly well for sightseeing: buses stop outside, Vauxhall Tube is nearby and the riverside walk towards the London Eye and South Bank is much nicer than spending the same journey underground. Some rooms have excellent views across the Thames towards Parliament, and there’s an indoor pool, sauna and gym. Chino Latino is still here too, serving Pan-Asian food and cocktails with river views. GayMapper tip: a good all-rounder if you want Vauxhall nightlife closer than Soho, while keeping Westminster and central London very easy to reach.

The Hoxton, Shoreditch is a good fit if you’d rather base yourself in East London than spend the whole trip orbiting Soho. Great Eastern Street puts you amongst Shoreditch restaurants, cocktail bars, galleries and nightlife, with Brick Lane around ten minutes away and Spitalfields and Liverpool Street also within easy reach. The hotel itself is part of the neighbourhood rather than just somewhere to sleep in it. The big lobby is busy from morning to late evening with locals working, drinking and meeting friends, while the restaurant, bar and terrace make it easy to start the night without immediately heading elsewhere. Old Street station is close by, and Dalston’s queer nightlife is an easy trip north when you want it. Soho takes longer, obviously, but that’s rather the point of staying here. GayMapper tip: a strong choice if you want fashionable East London outside the door and prefer your hotel lobby lively rather than reverentially quiet.

Central Station is one of those increasingly rare London places where the accommodation and the gay venue are essentially the same experience. The rooms sit above the long-running LGBTQ+ bar in King’s Cross, with drag, karaoke and other events downstairs and the decidedly more adventurous Underground Club in the basement. The rooms themselves are simple and traditional rather than boutique-hotel polished, with a mix of private and shared bathrooms, so it’s worth checking exactly what you’re booking. What you do get is character, a friendly atmosphere and one of London’s best-connected transport hubs less than ten minutes away. King’s Cross and St Pancras put six Tube lines, national trains and Eurostar within easy reach, while Soho is around 15 minutes away by Tube. GayMapper tip: choose Central Station if you like the idea of staying somewhere genuinely connected to London’s gay scene — and don’t mind a little more personality than polish.

St Giles London is all about location. Tottenham Court Road is practically outside, Oxford Street is around the corner and you can be on Old Compton Street in Soho within a few minutes on foot. That makes it wonderfully easy for an LGBTQ+ weekend: drinks, dinner, theatre and most of the West End are walkable, while the Elizabeth, Central and Northern lines give you excellent connections when you want to venture further. The hotel is big, busy and fairly straightforward, and room quality can vary — this isn’t somewhere you book for hushed boutique luxury. But in a part of London where hotel prices can get slightly ridiculous, the combination of price and location can be hard to argue with. GayMapper tip: one of the simplest choices if being able to walk home from Soho matters considerably more than having the fanciest room in town.

If you like a hotel with a story, Great Scotland Yard Hotel has rather more material to work with than most. It occupies the former headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, tucked down a quiet Westminster street between Trafalgar Square and Whitehall. That location is superb for central London: Covent Garden, the South Bank, Westminster and Soho are all walkable, while Heaven is particularly close around Charing Cross. The historic theme continues inside without turning the place into a police museum. Dining includes the fire-led Ekstedt at The Yard, while the hidden Síbín speakeasy and 40 Elephants bar give you unusually interesting options for a drink without leaving the hotel. GayMapper tip: a strong luxury choice if you want London history, excellent food and a central location that works equally well for sightseeing and nights out.

The Resident Soho is almost absurdly well placed for an LGBTQ+ weekend in London. It’s tucked down Carlisle Street by Soho Square, so Old Compton Street and the surrounding gay bars are only a few minutes away, yet the hotel itself feels surprisingly calm once you’re back inside. There’s no restaurant or scene-y hotel bar competing for your attention here; instead, the focus is on comfortable rooms, friendly service and little mini-kitchens with a fridge, microwave and Nespresso machine. That’s particularly handy if you’re staying for several nights or simply don’t fancy paying Soho prices every time you want a drink or snack. Tottenham Court Road is around five minutes away, giving you the Elizabeth, Central and Northern lines, while theatres, Chinatown, Oxford Street and Covent Garden are all comfortably walkable. GayMapper tip: probably the sweet spot if you want proper four-star comfort right in gay Soho without jumping all the way to five-star Soho Hotel prices.