The Alluvian by Claire Gervat

Sleek, stylish and thoroughly modern, the Alluvian’s most surprising feature is its location – in a gently rundown cotton town in the rural heart of Mississippi’s Delta region.

It owes its existence to the Viking Corporation, makers of America’s most wanted cooking ranges, which is headquartered here. Needing somewhere for visiting dealers and cookery-school attendees to stay, they bought up a decaying downtown flophouse and called in the designers. The result? The small-but-perfectly-formed Alluvian, which opened its doors on 1 May 2003.

It’s safe to say it’s the only place of its kind in an area better known as ‘the cradle of the blues’. Modern art hangs in the lobby, and the 45 rooms and five suites, decorated in shades of purple and old gold, have just the right amount of luxurious touches, including huge showers and an array of Aveda goodies.

The in-house restaurant, Giardini’s, has been in existence since the 1930s and is thriving in its new home, with its line of curtained booths packed most nights of the week with well-heeled locals and visitors.