Best Cities for a Christmas Break (2026)

Christmas is the most magical time of the year to travel. Whether you are drawn to twinkling lights strung above cobbled streets, the scent of warm spices drifting through a souk in Marrakech, or the electric energy of a city that goes all-out for the festive season, there are few better reasons to pack a bag and stay in one of these hotels recommended by the independent experts at The Hotel Guru. Our Gurus have put together a list of fabulous cities to visit during the festive season for solo travellers, couples and families, and four superb places to stay in each one, from chic townhouses, riads with spas, Grandes Dames and small boutique hotels.

London

Few cities do Christmas quite like London. From the moment the lights go up on Oxford Street and Regent Street, and the ice rink opens at Somerset House, the capital transforms into something genuinely special. Covent Garden's enormous wreath draws crowds of carolers, the South Bank's Winter Market fills the air with roasting chestnuts and mulled cider, and the shops of Knightsbridge put on window displays that have been a London tradition for generations. Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland offers fairground rides, an open-air theatre, and one of the country's most atmospheric skating rinks, ringed by bare winter trees. London at Christmas is busy, brilliant, and endlessly worth exploring.

• The Egerton House Hotel, famous for its fabulous cocktails and possibly the best scrambled egg in town, sits on a quiet residential street in Knightsbridge, a short walk from Harrods and the V&A, in a pair of red-brick Victorian townhouses that have been turned into one of London's most personally run boutique hotels. There are just 28 rooms, each individually decorated with rich fabrics, antique furnishings, and original artworks; the walls hold pieces by Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec. The service is attentive, and the bar is known across London for its martinis. The Egerton has been given a Forbes Five-Star rating, rightly so.
• The Gore has been a hotel since 1892. Located in South Kensington, a few minutes from the Royal Albert Hall and Hyde Park, it occupies a Victorian building whose 50 rooms are individually furnished with antiques, ornate gilded mirrors, four-poster beds, and period photographs. The atmosphere at this iconic hotel is somewhere between a private London club and a very well-appointed country house. Bar 190 is part of the hotel's legend, the Rolling Stones held the launch party for Beggars Banquet here in 1968, and the spirit of the place has barely changed since.
• Batty Langley's is the hotel for those who want something entirely different: a Georgian townhouse hotel tucked behind Old Spitalfields Market in East London, dating from 1724, with 29 rooms named for local historical figures ranging from aristocrats to vagabonds. The rooms are full of restored antiques, oil paintings, and original four-posters, and the bathrooms are excellent, all clawfoot baths and walk-in showers. There are drawing rooms for drinks by the fire, an honesty gin bar, and a private courtyard. It feels less like a hotel and more like staying in a very stylish friend's Georgian townhouse.
• Georgian House in Pimlico is a Grade II-listed building dating from 1851 that has been in the same family for over 150 years. The 63 rooms are individually designed, and no two are the same, with original fireplaces, ornate cornicing, and hand-picked furniture sitting comfortably alongside contemporary touches. The hotel's Wizard Chambers on the lower ground floor, complete with working woodburners and four-poster beds, have become something of a cult choice for those who enjoy their hotels with a sense of humour. Victoria Station is a 12-minute walk away, and the rest of London is easily reached from there.

New York

New York at Christmas is everything you hope it is. The Rockefeller Center tree is the centrepiece: a towering spruce draped in tens of thousands of lights, with an ice rink below it that is open day and night throughout December. Macy's, Saks, and Bergdorf Goodman compete fiercely for the most spectacular window displays, and a walk along Fifth Avenue in the crisp December air is one of the great seasonal pleasures. Central Park in winter is beautiful, and each neighbourhood from the West Village's fairy-lit brownstones to the carols echoing around Grand Central has its own particular version of Christmas.

• Sohotel is a long-established Lower East Side hotel that has grown considerably in character over the years, and occupies a collection of former tenement buildings in one of Manhattan's most interesting neighbourhoods. The rooms are well appointed, the service is genuine, and the location puts you within walking distance of some of the city's best restaurants, bars, and independent shops. For those who find Midtown's Christmas crowds overwhelming, the Lower East Side at this time of year offers a more local, less theatrical version of the season.
• The Roger sits on Madison Avenue in Murray Hill, a Midtown hotel with a great deal more personality than its neighbours. The rooms are stylish and well-sized by Manhattan standards, and the hotel's rooftop terrace, while seasonal, offers strong views of the surrounding skyline. The Roger attracts a largely creative clientele and has the easy, unstuffy atmosphere that comes with that.
• Walker Hotel Greenwich Village occupies a beautifully restored 1920s building in one of New York's most desirable neighbourhoods. The rooms take their design cues from the building's Art Deco origins, with warm tones and period detailing that sit well alongside modern comforts. Greenwich Village at Christmas has a particular atmosphere of its own: the brownstone streets are invariably lit and festive, and some of the city's finest restaurants and wine bars are within a few minutes' walk.
• The Whitby is one of Kit Kemp's New York hotels and carries all the hallmarks of her design sensibility: bold textiles, commissioned artworks, and an interiors approach that is never predictable. Located on West 56th Street, it is extremely well-placed for Midtown's Christmas attractions, the tree, the skating rinks, and Carnegie Hall, but the hotel itself is interesting enough to spend an evening in the bar or lounge.

Morocco

For something entirely different, warm, spice-scented, and genuinely exotic, Marrakech is one of the world's most rewarding Christmas destinations. December temperatures hover pleasantly around 18 degrees, the medina is at its most atmospheric, the souks are lit by lanterns, and the chaos of Djemaa el-Fna square, with its acrobats, storytellers, and food stalls, runs long into the night. There is a particular pleasure in spending Christmas morning on a riad rooftop terrace, watching the Atlas Mountains glow pink in the dawn light, before heading out for a hammam and a traditional Moroccan breakfast of msemen flatbread and mint tea.

• La Mamounia is one of the great hotels of the world and has been since it opened in 1923. Set in 17 acres of gardens just outside the medina walls, near the Koutoubia Mosque and Djemaa el-Fna, it combines Moroccan craftsmanship, the tilework, the carved plasterwork, the painted ceilings, with Art Deco grandeur. Winston Churchill called it "the most lovely spot in the whole world," and there is a bar named after him. There are two pools, a hammam, a private cinema, tennis courts, and several restaurants. The rooms are among the finest in Africa. Voted best hotel in the world twice by the Condé Nast Traveller readers, it remains the benchmark against which all other Marrakech hotels are measured.
• Riad Tarabel is described in the Louis Vuitton Marrakech city guide as one of the medina's most closely guarded secrets, and the description is apt. Hidden behind an unassuming door in the elegant Dar El Bacha quarter, five interconnecting riads form a private mansion of ten rooms and suites, with Moorish architecture meeting Napoleon III style. The interiors were curated by the French owner, Rose Fournier, a professional interior decorator, resulting in a place brimming with antiques, family objects, and beautifully arranged details. There is a heated pool, multiple courtyards, and a stunning spa concealed behind a mirror.
• Riad Cocoon is a rarity in that it can be accessed by car and is less than a five-minute walk from the souks. It has just five rooms and a rooftop terrace with bar. Exuding the lust for life of its musical owner, this riad allows guests to "cocoon" in the lap of affordable luxury in bustling Marrakech. The individually designed rooms include sumptuous silks, pop colours and mosaic tiles. The menu is gourmet, and there's a roof terrace and private hammam, one of the best in the medina.
• Villa des Orangers is tucked in the heart of the medina itself, between the Koutoubia Mosque, the Royal Palace, and Djemaa el-Fna square, and feels like a sultan's private retreat. Citrus-scented courtyard gardens lead to fountain-dotted terraces, a rooftop pool, and rooms of quiet, jewel-coloured luxury. The traditional hammam is superb, and meals can be arranged wherever suits in a lantern-lit courtyard, on the roof terrace, or in the cool of a shaded salon. One for the romantics.

Rome

Rome at Christmas is the Eternal City at its most atmospheric. The crowds of summer have thinned, the winter light is soft and golden, and the city's piazzas fill with nativity scenes and Christmas markets that take the season seriously in a way only Rome can. St Peter's Square hosts one of the world's great Christmas trees alongside an elaborate presepe, and midnight mass there on Christmas Eve is without equal. Beyond the obvious pilgrimage points, December is the best time of year to explore at a slower pace: ducking into Baroque churches, enjoying long Roman lunches, and finding that even the most visited spots, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, feel genuinely different in the quiet of the winter months.

• Palazzo Talia is a 16th-century palazzo near the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain that opened as a hotel only recently, with interiors designed by a remarkable combination of Italian talent: architect and designer Luca Guadagnino's studio handled the common areas, restaurant, and bar, while Marianna Lubrano Lavadera and Laura Feroldi designed the 26 individually decorated rooms and suites. The result is a place of considerable beauty, where 16th-century frescoes sit above beds with custom four-posters, and hand-blown glass sconces cast light across parquet floors and velvet upholstery. The subterranean pool, Turkish bath, and sauna make it a hotel that rewards staying in as much as going out.
• Hotel Barocco occupies an elegant building on Piazza Barberini, in the heart of Rome, with Bernini's Triton Fountain visible from the junior suites. It is a quietly distinguished four-star hotel with 37 rooms, antique furnishings, stuccoed ceilings, and the sort of staff who genuinely go out of their way for guests. The location is superb; the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and Via Veneto are all within a ten-minute walk, and the atmosphere is of a hotel that takes its role as a base for serious Rome exploration very seriously.
• Relais Rione Ponte is a small boutique hotel just off Piazza Navona, in one of Rome's most historically rich quarters, with nine elegantly appointed rooms and suites. The hotel is intimate in the best sense, the service is personal, the rooms individually decorated, and the location, with Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, and Campo de' Fiori all within easy walking distance, is about as central as Rome gets. For those who want to wake up and step straight into the fabric of the historic city, this is an excellent choice.
• Gigli d'Oro Suites occupies a 15th-century building in the Ponte district, a few minutes' walk from both Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. There are just six suites, each with wood-beamed ceilings, original paintings, parquet floors, and bathrooms with rain showers and chromotherapy lighting. Some have working log fires. It is a very small hotel with a very personal atmosphere, and its position, on Via dei Gigli d'Oro, surrounded by excellent restaurants and cafés, makes it a superb base for exploring the historic centre on foot.
• Hotel de Russie is one of Rocco Forte's hotels and is a beautiful classic Roman hotel overlooking the Piazza del Popolo. Plush rooms are light and airy; many of them feature courtyard garden views. Luxury with style, in a great location with fantastic food, a spa and pool. A grown-up, sophisticated city escape.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong embraces Christmas with an energy that surprises many first-time visitors. The city's shopping centres go into full festive mode, with enormous light installations, carol concerts, and displays that turn places like the IFC Mall into genuine spectacles. But it is the city itself, the harbour, the skyline, and the density of extraordinary food that make Hong Kong such a rewarding destination at this time of year. The Symphony of Lights show, which plays across the waterfront every evening, is particularly dramatic on clear December nights, when the air has enough crispness to it to feel properly seasonal. Christmas Day dim sum is a local tradition well worth joining.

• Kerry Hotel is billed as Hong Kong's first urban resort and occupies a prominent position on the Kowloon waterfront in Hung Hom Bay. Designed by the architect behind the Upper House Hotel, the lobby has 80-metre floor-to-ceiling windows that open directly onto a waterfront terrace and garden, giving even interior spaces a strong sense of the harbour beyond. Over 60 per cent of the rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows framing Victoria Harbour, and the dining options are extensive, led by nine separate kitchen concepts at the Dockyard all-day restaurant. 
• The Fleming is a maritime-themed boutique hotel on Hong Kong Island that draws its design cues from the city's iconic Star Ferry. The building is bottle green and white, the door handles are fashioned from reclaimed ocean depth gauges, and the reception chairs are styled like ferry seating. The 66 rooms are compact by international standards but intelligently designed, with custom furniture in warm woods and mustard tones. The hotel sits in the heart of Wan Chai, one of Hong Kong's liveliest and most characterful districts, and Osteria Marzia, the Italian restaurant on the ground floor, is one of the best restaurants in town.
• Mira is a design hotel on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, directly across from Kowloon Park, with 492 rooms that are considerably larger than those at most Hong Kong hotels at this price level. It is a member of Design Hotels and carries the credentials: the interiors are sleek and thoughtfully put together, with rooms finished in a calm neutral palette with high-tech features. The indoor pool and spa are a genuine bonus, and the Michelin-recommended Cuisine Cuisine restaurant adds a serious on-site dining option.
• Mondrian Hong Kong opened in Tsim Sha Tsui in late 2023, bringing the eclectic energy of the Mondrian brand to its first Greater China property. The design, by Vienna-based Karin Krautgartner, draws on Hong Kong's cultural history, fishing villages, harbour ferries, the traditional Tangram game, worked through a surreal, whimsical lens that includes hybrid sea creatures on every floor and an enormous glass mosaic in the lobby. The 324 rooms are stylish and well-appointed, with harbour views from the higher floors, and the cocktail bar Avoca is already one of the better places to drink in Tsim Sha Tsui.

STILL NOT SURE?

• Expand your search to include Where to Stay in Morocco
• Alternatively, check out our list of Top Hotels in New York
• Or contact one of our friendly Gurus for advice.