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Parkes Hotel has an atmosphere of quiet discretion in one of the smartest corners of London. Once a Georgian townhouse, it was converted into a luxury boutique hotel but has retained all its old-school character. A glass cabinet stuffed with leather-bound Agatha Christie and Grahame Greene books blends into the heavy wooden panelling in the lobby. In the modest entrance hall, softly lit by two chandeliers, a comfy sofa and a low-slung coffee table give the Parkes Hotel that elusive home-from-home feel so coveted by small luxury hotels.

The townhouse itself is Georgian, with a white stucco exterior, and it's tucked away on a discreet, peaceful cul-de-sac in Beaufort Gardens. Brompton Road is just a short stroll away, as are Harrods and the plethora of international designer boutiques in Knightsbridge.

The facilities

The living room at the Parkes Hotel is mainly used by guests partaking in pre-dinner or pre-theatre drinks. The breakfast room downstairs serves a good selection of continental fare, which goes far beyond the usual ‘coffee and croissant’ offering, with plenty of cold meats, cheeses , freshly cut fruit and home-baked bread.

The rooms

The 33 bedrooms at the Parkes Hotel span seven floors. Their interiors are traditionally English in style with plenty of floral patterns, thick carpets and dark woodwork. The walls are adorned with paintings of butterflies and birds. They are very generous in size when compared to most luxury London hotels. Deluxe Doubles have a seating area and in many other boutique hotels they would be categorized as a ‘Junior Suite’. What we really loved was the corresponding enormity of the mini-bars. Don’t be fooled by the generic moniker; there is nothing petite about these monsters. They stretch across several drawers and are packed with just about every miniature and snack food imaginable.

In fact, it seems that the concept of ‘miniature’ really doesn’t have a place at the Parkes Hotel. The top-to-toe marble bathrooms contain full-sized Molton Brown toiletries. The beds are generous in proportion, as are the huge flat-screen televisions that grace each bedroom. The noise level alone is small-scale; throughout the hotel you hardly hear more than a whisper from the street below.