Tavistock Hotel

You'll find this 24-hour drinking den anchoring the corner of one of Bloomsbury's finest garden squares, where the Georgian terraces still whisper of Virginia Woolf and literary salons. It's the sort of place that serves tourists by day and locals by very late night, with that particular mix of hotel bar anonymity and proper pub atmosphere that only London does properly. The beauty of the Tavistock isn't its decor or its food – it's that gloriously democratic feeling of a place that's always open, always serving, always there when you need it. Whether you're nursing a post-theatre pint or seeking refuge from the British Museum crowds, it does exactly what a good local should: keeps the lights on and the taps flowing.