Coming to London for a Christmas show and haven’t booked a hotel yet? Good luck with that. On the other hand, if you’re already making plans for 2016 and looking for somewhere to stay, here are five hotels within a short stroll of some of the capital’s most popular musical venues.

Handy for Royal Albert Hall

A 15-minute stroll from the Royal Albert Hall, through Hyde Park and past the Serpentine Lake, will bring you to Corus Hotel Hyde Park (above), at the top of Lancaster Gate. The grand 200-year-old Listed Georgian building is on the Central Line so if you don’t have tickets for the Royal Albert Hall, it’s also well situated for West End theatres. And if you plan to eat after the performance, how about a Malaysian Afternoon Tea, including spring rolls, chicken satay and ‘talam and kuih sago’ (a type of cake), at the Corus to keep you going? From £100 per night.

Handy for London Palladium

Any excuse to stay here: it’s no secret that Tim and Kit Kemp’s Soho hotel is one of our favourites (and where we had our Christmas lunch). Conveniently located just behind Regent Street, Ham Yard is a 10-minute walk from the London Palladium. The perfect London evening? An early dinner at Ham Yard, followed by CATS at the Palladium, then back to the hotel for a nightcap in the cosy Drawing Room. Bliss. From £384 per night.

Handy for The Royal Opera House 

One Aldwych Hotel is so close to The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden’s Bow Street that you could even pop back to the hotel bar during the interval. Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and the Aldwych Theatre are even closer. An 18m swimming pool with underwater music and a Charlie & The Chocolate Factory-inspired afternoon tea are just two of the more theatrical draws of this five-star hotel. And if you’re travelling via Waterloo station, it’s only a short walk across the bridge. From £276 per night.

Handy for The London Coliseum

The London Coliseum in St Martin’s Lane is around 10 minutes’ walk from The Royal Horseguards hotel. Once the Secret Service’s HQ, this contemporary building not only boasts a fantastic riverside location, but is so close to the Palace of Westminster that it has its own division bell. From £209 per night.

Handy for Holland Park Open Air Theatre 

Numerous operas are on offer at Holland Park in 2016 and continuing the musical theme – with a radical change of genre – is K West, a short walk from the theatre. Formerly the BBC Building Kensington House in the Sixties, this is where an endless list of Rock ‘N’ Roll royalty has ‘stayed, played and misbehaved’. From £125 per person.