Relaxed on a large window seat, glass of wine in hand, looking out across the city, from the London Eye to the Gherkin, as the sun sets across the River Thames. This is how to experience London.

This astonishing view was just one of many things I loved about the Four Seasons Hotel at Canary Wharf. The spacious deluxe suite included a vast living room and dining room, kitchen with stove and well-stocked minibar, a separate bedroom, three-room bathroom, walk-in closet, as well as an additional guest bathroom. One gets the sense of constant discovery when strolling through the space.

But while Four Seasons can certainly satisfy the luxury traveler looking or grandeur, it’s in the details that they make a stay feel particularly special. Custom-made black walnut furniture and a few well-placed potted orchids gives the room a nice touch of class. Toiletries supplied by L’Occitane and Bulgari had me taking two showers a day just to enjoy their rich scents.

The hotel offers 141 guestrooms, and 13 suites in four categories with floor-to-ceiling windows available by request. Each room includes flatscreen televisions, Wi-Fi, CD and DVD players.

Room service is available 24 hours a day, though guests would do themselves a favor by visiting the chic Quadrato restaurant downstairs (see full review of Quadrato for details). Bar Quadrato, just off the hotel’s expansive, airy lobby, offers a casual space to enjoy a cocktail or afternoon tea.

For the more physically-inclined, Canary Wharf offers a standalone, glass-enclosed Virgin Active health club with a 20-meter infinity-edge swimming pool (visible from many of the hotel’s rooms) as well as spa pools and steam rooms and a tennis court. A spa treatment suite, providing facials, massages and more is planned for completion by early May.

The burgeoning area of Canary Wharf offers guests a number of wonderful restaurants, bars and shopping along the canals and waterways of the West India Millwall Docks. As a major business and financial district for the city, the area has been significantly developed in the last several years, offering top brand names without losing the area’s scenery and sense of rich history (a stop at the Museum of London Dockland provides a fascinating primer). The concierge was very helpful in providing information about all of this.

Plenty of other jewels of the city are minutes away, including the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, Greenwich, as well a the O2 arena (the hotel is a favorite spot for visiting entertainers performing there and offers a private VIP entrance). Visitors looking for a much faster and more scenic way to get across the city than the Underground can hop on to the Thames Clipper right in back of the hotel.

-Alex Palmer

The Four Seasons Canary Wharf 46 Westferry Circus Canary Wharf, London England E14 8RS Tel. 44 (20) 7510-1999