Whether you’re traveling for a conference, meetings, or a quick overnight trip, having reliable go-to spots in a city can make all the difference.
At Dakota, we’ve spent years on the road meeting with allocators, industry professionals, and investment managers across the country and around the world. Along the way, we’ve learned firsthand which hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops consistently deliver. The ones that turn a business trip into a productive, enjoyable experience.
That’s why we created Dakota Recommends. The insider list for business travel exclusive to Dakota Marketplace Members, or with a subscription.
Built by executive business travelers for executive business travel, it’s a curated collection of hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, and event spaces designed for professionals who expect more from every trip.
Unlike tourist guides, it’s built for business. Every spot is Dakota Verified, tested by the same team behind Dakota Marketplace and trusted by thousands of firms.
Now live inside Dakota Marketplace, Dakota Recommends includes more than 1,000 verified locations across 25+ U.S. cities, London, and Paris. Each listing features “Dakota Must Trys”... our insider dishes and experiences our team swears by.
London
As one of the world’s most influential financial centers, London stands at the crossroads of global capital and remains a must-cover market for any investment sales professional targeting institutional or professional investors across the UK and Europe. The city offers unmatched density, housing a diverse mix of pension funds, insurers, consultants, wealth managers, family offices, and sovereign institutions, all within easy reach.
London’s allocator base is as sophisticated as it is expansive. Major pension plans such as the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), London Pension Fund Authority, and Transport for London Pension Fund anchor a robust public sector allocation landscape, while Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pools continue to allocate actively across public and private markets. On the insurance side, London is home to some of the UK’s most prominent institutions, including Legal & General, Aviva, Prudential, Pension Insurance Corporation, and Rothesay, each with mature and specialized external manager selection processes.
The city also serves as the hub for global investment consultants who influence billions in mandates. Firms like Mercer, Willis Towers Watson, Aon, Redington, and Hymans Robertson all operate from London, acting as key gatekeepers for institutional access. At the same time, a deep bench of multi-family offices and professional wealth managers, such as Stonehage Fleming, Rathbones, Stanhope Capital, and RIT Capital Partners, serve a global client base and provide unique entry points into UHNW capital.
London also plays host to major endowments and foundations like Wellcome Trust and Imperial College London, and is the European base for sovereign wealth funds including NBIM, GIC, Temasek, and several from the Middle East, many of which maintain in-house investment teams and deploy capital directly from the city.
For investment professionals, London is a market where high-quality meetings are always within reach. Whether you’re covering pensions, consultants, sovereigns, or wealth platforms, a single trip can unlock access across multiple allocator types.
That’s why Dakota Recommends now highlights London inside Dakota Marketplace, bringing together the venues and spaces our team uses when building relationships and meeting capital allocators on the ground.
London Inside Dakota Marketplace:
- 6 hotels curated for reliability, access, and comfort across central London
- 26 restaurants ideal for investor lunches, client dinners, and post-meeting conversation
- 4 event spaces suited for receptions, private dinners, and networking with allocators
Each location meets the Dakota standard: elevated, professional, and proven, never crowdsourced. These are the same places our team counts on when connecting with the institutional capital that makes London a cornerstone of the global allocator map.
Dakota Recommends
Dakota Recommends isn’t just a list, it’s a toolkit for business travelers. These are the places that have helped us at Dakota deliver successful meetings, memorable events, and efficient trips time and time again.
When you're traveling for work, trust the spots we've already vetted. You’ll find them all in Dakota Marketplace, organized by metro area, ready to support your goals on the road. We've also incorporated "Dakota Must Trys" under each place listed!
Whether you're planning your next trip or refining your meeting strategy, book a demo of Dakota Marketplace to explore the people and places that keep our team coming back.
