At Sloane

Worth getting out of bed for

At Sloane feels more home than hotel, so it’s best to make sure you’re living like a local, and there’s no better place to start than the King’s Road. Set a few minutes from the hotel, this 17th-century street teems with Chelsea’s best-dressed residents (and their dogs) wandering between glossy shops and independent cafés. And while you’re there, be sure to stroll through Duke of York Square – which has a food market every Saturday – and down Pavilion Road, where artisanal bakeries and locally loved restaurants reside in a mews of redbrick buildings. The Saatchi Gallery sits nearby and has a host of ever-changing contemporary art exhibitions, and during the warmer months the Chelsea Physic Gardens’ four acres bloom with over 4,500 species of edible and medicinal plants.

If the shopaholics are still looking for more, Harrods is set to keep you entertained with seven floors of fancy threads in nearby Knightsbridge. Crowds can tend to take over along this particular stretch of the Brompton Road, so for those seeking something a little more peaceful, Hyde Park is a 15-minute walk away – the Serpentine Galleries are also worth marvelling at while you’re there, and impressive performances are often happening in the adjacent Royal Albert Hall. Museums are in abundance in London, and South Kensington’s Cromwell and Exhibition roads house some of the best: the Victoria & Albert Museum has one of the world’s largest collection of decorative arts, the Natural History Museum impresses with over 80-million Earth-related artefacts, and the Science Museum has immersive exhibitions year-round.

Local restaurants

Set a 10-minute walk from the hotel, Chinese-restaurant Hunan does things differently. Once you arrive, servers will ask if there’s anything you don’t eat and how much spice you can handle; they’ll then bring an array of tapas-sized sharing plates that’ve been expertly sautéed, stir-fried and steamed behind the scenes by owner and head chef, Mr Peng (very few people are privy to his first name, so we shan’t divulge). At Michelin-awarded Muse by Tom Aikens, seasonal tasting menus are inspired by the chef’s British upbringing and come accompanied by short origin stories. Stick with the quintessentially English ambience and head to the Orange – a four-floor gastropub, and former brewery, along Pimlico Street.

Local cafés

Chelsea has cafés aplenty, and the folks at Hagen – where beans are homebrewed and poured in a Scandi setting – are on hand to ensure your caffeine fix is sorted in style. On Pavilion Road, the Roasting Party have refined a lengthy list of blends that suffice every sippers’ preference.

Local bars

A trip to London wouldn’t be complete without a couple of pints at the pub, and you’ll find them in abundance wherever you roam; but for something a little more elegant, stop by Wild Corner, which has over 150 bottles of sommelier-selected wines. Another impressive collection of spirits resides at Mezcalito, which serves spicy margs alfresco (heaters will keep you cosy during winter) and tacos every Tuesday.