Durley House, London, United Kingdom

Two 18th-century townhouses have been gracefully converted to make up Durley House Hotel in London. Enter from Sloane Street to find a little reception room, presided over by a po-faced portrait of Lord Durley and by smiling, attentive staff. This in turn leads through to a small sitting room. It’s extremely elegant in a low-key and welcoming way, with rugs on a flagstone floor and plump silk-striped sofas ranged around a fireplace. A large armoire hides an honesty bar.

The facilities

Durley House is fortunate enough to be situated right over the road from Cadogan Gardens, a large private garden square. Guests are given a key to the gardens and they are marvellous – lawns under spreading trees, benches behind high yew hedges, even a tennis court and a playground where you can safely let the kids off the leash. It doesn’t get better than this for outside space in London.

There’s another pleasant surprise in this boutique hotel’s kitchens, which are far larger and much-better stocked than you would expect. You could actually cook here, if you wanted to; otherwise, order from 24-hour room service and your meal will arrive from the kitchens in a dumbwaiter and be served to you by your butler.

The suites

This boutique hotel doesn’t have public rooms to speak of. The point of Durley House is that the suites are spacious and detailed enough to act as mini-apartments. All of the 11 suites are furnished with grace and taste – everything is original and everything has been chosen because it suits the room, not because it came as part of an auction-house job-lot of antiques. It’s also unaffected, with a touch of fresh country chic in the cheerful Regency sofas piled with cushions, happy pale primrose walls and fresh flowers on the marble fireplaces. Big bedrooms have everything you would expect, down to proper (non-ziplink!) beds piled with Irish linen and enough wardrobe space for an extended stay.