London
 

Is there an absolutely "best" area when selecting a hotel? (tube access, walking to sites, restaurants / pubs, nightlife...)?

We stayed at the Thistle Charing Cross - very close to Trafalgar Square on the Strand. The train station is right next door, but we were able to walk to just about everything (Buckingham, Westminster, Covent Garden, Picaddilly, etc.). St. Paul's and the Tower of London were kind of far, but it was still walkable.

Thank you!

"Is there an absolutely "best" area when selecting a hotel?"

No

Ditto. The "sites" are strewn all about the place. The best you can hope for is convenient access to transportation.

Marble Arch is served by twenty-one bus lines that go all over London. We have never had to change lines to get anywhere.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/spiders/pdf/marble-arch.pdf

There is absolutly no single "best" area. No location is walking distance to more than a handful of the major sites. But never mind since you can get anywhere from anywhere easily by public transport.

Charing Cross that bandwife recommends is central to some places - but not for the Tower, British Museum, V&A, Hyde Park, or a hundred other places.

So basically, find a hotel you like that is near a good tube station (and most hotels are)

Many of the best locations (though not all) are along the Piccadilly tube line: such as South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Green Park, Covent Garden and Russell Square.