According to the Wall Street Journal, hotel prices in Europe are shooting up—an average of 22 percent over last year. But it is possible to jaunt across the pond this summer without breaking the bank.

The editors of Travel & Leisure magazine have compiled a list of affordable European hotels, most under $300 a night, even for the peak summer travel season.

Here are their picks:

Copenhagen, Denmark
While other new hotels have capitalized on Copenhagen's reputation as a design city by embracing sleek functionalism to the point of folly, the Bertrams Hotel Guldsmeden (107 Vesterbrogade; 45-33/250-405) remains resolutely inviting. It starts at the cheerful entryway, which feels like that of a private residence, and continues into the light-filled dining room and courtyard with its voluptuous breakfast spread. Here, you'll find a buffet of charcuterie, thick wedges of Scandinavian cheese, crusty rolls and croissants from the nearby Emmery's bakery. Upstairs, the 47 high-ceilinged rooms have breezy South of France-inspired interiors; downy four-poster beds are draped in white fabrics and accented with seashells. (Ask for a balcony overlooking the courtyard.) The bathrooms are small, but perks like complimentary breakfast and a vibrant location in the Vesterbro district make up for any shortcomings. $265

Brighton, England
At Blanch House (17 Atlingworth St.; 44-127/360-3504), a town house hotel right near the seafront, breakfast starts at a laid-back  9 a.m., and no one's likely to ask whether you want a wake-up call. Each of the 12 themed rooms displays a sense of no-holds-barred fun. In one, the walls, windows, and bed appear swathed in the same green velvet that Scarlett O'Hara used to make her dress; another holds an impressive collection of snow globes. And if that's not enough, there's always the buzzy bar (try the strawberry-balsamic mojito), and the all-white restaurant, which serves creative modern European dishes. $190

Cheltenham, England
With its strategically placed flea-market finds (a velvet couch here, a ventriloquist's dummy there), the 54-room Alias Hotel Kandinsky (Bayshill Rd., 44-124/252-7788) projects an air of boho gentility. Rooms in this Victorian-era former girls'-school dormitory overlook quiet side streets and have homey neutral color schemes and Art Deco-style black-and-white-tiled bathrooms. By night, the lobby absorbs spillover from the adjoining bar, as low lighting and lounge music transform the shabby-chic interior into one of Cheltenham's hippest scenes. The hotel's prime location in the center of the Cotswolds makes it the perfect jumping-off point for exploring the region. $222

Only the faintest signs of life outside can be heard from Montagu Place Hotel (2 Montagu Place; 44-20/7467-2777), a secluded, 16-room Georgian town house in regal Marylebone. A narrow, winding staircase leads to three styles of bedroom (Comfy, Fancy, and Swanky), all with original stone fireplaces, large sash windows, and divinely plump beds covered in chenille blankets. Although the hotel doesn't serve dinner, some of London's best gastropubs are a short walk away. $288

Nimes, France
Connoisseurs of 18th-century refinement are filling up Jardins Secrets (3 Rue Gaston Maruejols; 33-4/66-84-82-64) faster than you can say, "Luxe, calme et volupte." The hotel is in downtown Nimes but feels like a romantic rural refuge, with just four guest rooms, a rosy bougainvillea-clad facade, and a small swimming pool in the shadow of orange and olive trees. An embarrassment of curated antiques, bowls of garden roses, and curtained bathing alcoves with freestanding rolltop tubs have made this one of the most desirable addresses west of the Rhone. $236

Paris, France
Deep in the Latin  Quarter, not far from the busy Rue Mouffetard, lies the futuristic new Five Hotel (3 Rue Flatters, 5th Arr.; 33-1/43-31-74-21). Here, the standard rooms tend toward petite, but what they lack in size they make up for with ingenuity and groovy details such as changeable colored lighting and a five-scent fragrance menu. Doubles are known as "glimmering superiors" for the tiny fiber-optic stars that adorn  the tops of the canopy beds. If you can, book an over-the-top suite: No. 501 has a multicolored curtain covering the bed; No. 603, a suspended sleeping loft. $263

Hotel Le Sainte-Beuve (9 Rue Ste.-Beuve, 6th Arr.; 33-1/45-48-20-07), which takes its name from the 19th-century literary critic Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, is for traditionalists. In the lobby, a wood-burning fireplace is flanked by red couches and antique furniture. Each of the 22 individually decorated rooms gets marks for charm, but No. 6 is the standout; its turquoise walls are covered with romantic charcoal portraits of Parisian women. That said, if you're looking for something roomier, stay in the Sainte-Beuve suite: street- and courtyard-facing windows and a small lounge area make it feel like a private pied-a-terre. $215

Berlin, Germany
Berlin's recent buzz has  been all about the eastern part of the city, but the west side is showing signs of a resurgence. Case in point: the Hotel Garni Askanischer Hof (53 Kurfurstendamm; 49-30/881-8033). An old-school gem, the hotel has soaring ceilings and a maze of bedrooms, all with turn-of-the-century Art Nouveau furnishings and vintage-style radios. Frau Glinicke, the proprietress, has overseen the comings and goings of guests--including Helmut Newton and David Bowie--since 1963. Don't be put off by the shabby ground-floor landing. Upstairs, the windows are taller than most guests, and overlook a wide, tree-lined boulevard straight out of a John Le Carre novel. $155

Milan, Italy
Transparent plastic bedside lights by Kartell. Bathrooms lined with Bisazza mosaic tiles. Wall paints, in fashionably named hues like "pearl gray" and "dauphine," from chic Belgian interiors company Flamant. And--believe it--wastebaskets and wardrobe interiors lined in Gucci wallpapers sporting the famous double "G." Welcome to Forestiera Monforte (2 Piazza Tricolore; 39-02/7631-8516), a fashion-forward bed-and-breakfast that's perfectly suited to this city. The owners are a pharmacist and a lawyer who've finally solved the dilemma of how to get a designer fix without spending a thousand euros a night. $175

Naples, Italy
As a diplomat's daughter raised in the world's top hotels, Michelle Lowe was uniquely qualified to create a haven that doesn't scrimp on design and luxury. Together with local architect Massimo Sciarra, she set about transforming this 17th-century property in Naples's most fashionable neighborhood, Chiaia, into the nine-room Micalo (88 Riviera di Chiaia;  39-081/761-7131).  The parquet-floored rooms have handmade white-linen quilts and staircases leading to bathrooms with custom fittings fashioned from creamy Trani stone. In fact, stones are the theme here: volcanic rocks from nearby Vesuvius sit like  sculptures on the stone bar in the breakfast salon. Even the  room keys hang from pebbles found on the nearby beach. $238

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