Welgelegen, Cape Town, South Africa

The smell of lavender and white roses wafts you through the wrought-iron gate of Welgelegen. The front yard is neat and pretty, and the stately old townhouse trim and triumphant. Thorough modernisation has not sacrificed any of its period charm; the ceilings are high and the floorboards creak delightfully. The ground floor is full of comfy red and cream sofas, scattered magazines, knickknacks and lovely furniture, including a green Chinese dresser. Further back lies the breakfast room, though most guests scramble for a table in the morning cool of the outdoor courtyard. The courtyard has a small pool (which even the owner admits is more like a fish pond), and beyond it lies a second house, Hofmeyr, with a few more guestrooms. There's nothing formulaic about the décor, which is amiable and comfortable and makes you feel right at home, perhaps because the owner is English. The location is brilliant, on a quiet residential street on the slopes beneath Table Mountain, but within walking distance of the city centre.

The rooms
Brits and other Europeans in the South African summer, Americans in winter, squabble over the guestrooms at Welgelegen, which are all so different you feel like rotating around them. The main house has deluxe rooms out front which are extremely large and very cheerful, benefiting from gracious windows. The standard rooms at the back are somewhat cramped (especially for two), but the bathrooms are still a good size and the showers are terrific. Tiny balconies allow you to place a foot outside to gaze over the courtyard. Across the other side of the yard, Hofmeyr House has rooms with larger balconies overlooking Table Mountain (ask for rooms 9 or 10) and another room with its own private garden (room 11). Fresh fruit and bowls of fresh flowers are a nice touch, as are the chocolates at turndown – a service not often offered in boutique hotels.