London’s Notting Hill: an insider’s guide

Notting Hill, made famous by the Hugh Grant film, boasts gorgeous shops, fantastic restaurants and trendy bars.

InterContinental Hotels Group’s Chloe Bugelly, out and about in Notting Hill.

EXPLORE: Notting Hill boasts gorgeous shops, fantastic restaurants and trendy bars. In the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, no trip to London is complete without a stroll along its pretty streets. While this now-affluent area is home to supermodels and former prime ministers, I love that it pays homage to a Caribbean heritage every summer during the Notting Hill Carnival;

thenottinghillcarnival.com.

TASTE: Aussie chef Bill Granger’s Westbourne Grove outpost, Granger and Co, does the best brunch; diners will happily line up for an hour for his corn fritters and scrambled eggs. Try also Golborne Deli, a favourite among boho types. For Italian, across the road you’ll find Pizza East, while for a caffeine fix you can’t go past 202 on Westbourne Grove;

grangerandco.com/notting-hill; golbornedeli.com; pizzaeast.com; 202london.uk.

SIP: Go to fellow Australian Will Ricker’s pan-Asian E & O bar and restaurant for dumplings and cocktails. My local, the Cock & Bottle, is a quintessential British corner pub with fantastic food and a neighbourhood vibe, while for pale ales and pad thai, try the nearby Churchill Arms, draped in Union Jack flags;

rickerrestaurants.com; cockandbottlew11.com; churchillarmskensington.co.uk/.

DISCOVER: The best running track in West London has to be through Kensington Palace Gardens. The palace (Kate and William’s official London residence) makes a magnificent backdrop. If you’d rather pedal, you can hire bikes for £2 ($3.50) a day. When the weather’s grim, head to Electric Cinema on Portobello Road, beautifully restored and screening arthouse and mainstream films;

royalparks.org.uk; hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace; electriccinema.co.uk/portobello.

SHOP: Portobello Road market attracts big Saturday crowds, but it’s worth braving them to forage through an eclectic range of antiques and vintage jewellery. For modern homewares I adore Graham and Green on nearby Elgin Crescent. Matches Fashion on Ledbury Road has a great collection of designer threads. I also like browsing the boutiques on Kensington Park Road;

portobelloroad.co.uk; grahamandgreen.co.uk; matchesfashion.com.

STAY: I’m biased, but when it comes to location you can’t beat the InterContinental Park Lane. For boutique-style accommodation, Hotel Indigo Kensington, near Earls Court station, offers cosy rooms in a Victorian townhouse;

ihg.com/intercontinental; hotelindigo.com/Kensington.

Chloe Bugelly is the Europe Communications Manager for InterContinental Hotels Group. The former TV reporter moved from Melbourne to London three years ago; ihg.com.

Insiders editor: Graham Erbacher