W London Leicester Square

Class: Deluxe

Style: Cutting edge

Rooms: 192

The world's 40th W Hotel opened with a flourish, welcoming Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter to the BAFTA Award after-party at its rock 'n' roll nightclub, Wyld. But this monolithic hotel is a spectacle even without glitterati. The exterior is sheathed in dotted glass onto which images captured at the four corners of the square are projected as shifting light. The drama continues inside, courtesy of Amsterdam-based designers Concrete. A gleaming black entrance hall and padded lift lead up to a white, gold and silver lounge bar where guests and an after-work crowd arrange themselves on deep sofas around a bubble-like bar. In the Spice Market restaurant (a franchise of the Jean-Georges Vongerichten concept created in New York) everything glows, from the army of red-clad waiters to the steady stream of South-east Asian street dishes to share (the crab dumplings are divine). After all that sensory stimulation, the dark corridors and sleek bedrooms are wonderfully soothing. The smallest of the 192 rooms are studio style, with sink units that double as dressing tables and/or desks, the idea being you can check Facebook while applying your lipstick (watch your spend; Wi-Fi costs 18 pounds a day). The W is fun and funky and at its best after dark: the silver curtains above the beds look gaudy in the cold light of the morning. Happily there is Berocca in the mini bar, and a small space-pod spa on the sixth floor. Opt for a 'grab-and-go' breakfast in the lounge or something more substantial in your room: a Full English doesn't quite work in the context of the Asian Spice Market.