The Great Eastern, once one of London’s great train station terminal hotels that’s practically atop the Liverpool Street station, was renovated well past its Victorian origins and is now one of the City’s more pleasant hotel surprises, with rooms both decently sized and luxurious. The Andaz, owned by Hyatt, makes a point of offering service that mixes ultra-casual (there’s no check-in desk; staff greets you with an iPad) with an attentiveness appropriate to the price point. It also piles on the freebies: You pay nothing extra for a minibar stocked with water and juices, snacks, in-room gourmet coffee, local calls, and Wi-Fi. Breakfast is taken in a glorious showpiece restaurant capped with glass cupolas, and ask to see the astonishing Grecian Masonic temple; this once-secret space with £4 million inlaid marble floors is now an events venue Freemasons can’t afford. The Andaz is extremely well connected by bus and rail, and a few blocks north and east, you’ll find the galleries of Hoxton and Shoreditch and the “real” London of Bethnal Green.