A modular hotel, at Hotel Koé the check-in desk morphs into a DJ booth come evening. Take the shift in atmosphere as your cue to order pre-dinner drinks at the bar before making tracks for the VIP area to ogle over paintings by Yoshitomo Nara and Hiroshi Sugita. When hunger strikes, head to the hotel's spacious, open-plan restaurant and dine on pink egg and ramen noodles. Come bedtime, get comfy at one ten teahouse-themed, super-minimal guest rooms sized with labels S to XL.

An interdisciplinary hotel experience, Eaton DC is billed as a place of “inspiration, innovation and impact.” Politically positioned, this hotel wins over guests, locals and house members with its retro furnishings, new-age spa and wellness facilities and provocative events programming. In need of further convincing before booking? This woke haven for changemakers sports its own radio station, political art gallery and cinema.

Found in London’s thriving King’s Cross neighbourhood, The Standard’s first hotel outside the US is housed in a 1974 brutalist building overlooking St Pancras station – and it certainly lives up to its fun-loving hype. Come for the 70s-style decor and the buzzy lobby lounge, complete with a carefully curated library. Stay (overnight) for the kitsch bedrooms and strong drinks served at the hotel’s pub-ish drinking den, Double Standard.

Coming out on top in the wallet-friendly design hotel category is Mama Shelter. With locations ranging from LA to Marseille to Rio de Janeiro, the French hotelier’s East London outpost (opening 2 September) is on our list of places to bed down. Cutting-edge designs crafted by Parisian designers Dion & Arles sees that each of the hotel’s 195 bedrooms are given their own distinctively zingy personality. But before bed, head down to the Japanese-style karaoke rooms and sing your little heart out.

This converted 18th-century palazzo takes its inspiration from Sicilian legends. It’s six “art rooms” celebrate mythological characters from the Catania area, while in the reception you’ll note an enormous flamingo sculpture by Domenico Pellegrino. Rounding things off, handpicked Italian furnishings dating from the 30s–60s decorate the palazzo’s interiors while abstract murals add contemporary flair; a solid choice art lovers.

Founded by former Royal Danish Ballet dancer Alexander Kolpin, this 54-room, art-nouveau hotel is designed in the best of taste. Sustainably made staff uniforms are by Parisian label Older while eclectic interiors designed by London-based studio Lind + Almond give this city hotspot a surprisingly un-Scandinavian feel. Since opening in 2017, Hotel Sanders has become the city's unofficial (and extremely luxurious) creative hub.