The Guardsman

Down a quiet street a few minutes from Buckingham Palace, The Guardsman is a purpose-built hotel that plays down its five stars: no grand porte-cochere, just a low, grey-brick townhouse front that opens onto a members'-club-style interior. Dark oak panelling, a mounted antelope head, a chesterfield in navy velvet - the ground-floor Drawing Room sets the tone for a hotel that reads closer to a private house than a hotel lobby. Six residences occupy the top three floors, named after Britain's early women parliamentarians (Nancy Astor and Margaret Bondfield among them), most with their own kitchen, sitting room and a rooftop terrace looking over St James's.

The Dining Room & Bar sits on the lower ground floor beneath a black-and-brass spiral stair, its green-tiled counter backed by a deep whisky selection; upstairs, a book-lined library with russet velvet armchairs offers a smaller, quieter room for a drink or a private conversation. Service runs on the same 24-hour, no-set-hours informality as the kitchen.

For private events, The Guardsman takes the whole hotel: all 53 bedrooms, the six residences, the restaurant and its entertaining spaces, closed to any other guest. The Astor Residence, the penthouse on the seventh floor, is the largest of the six - a 117 sq m suite with its own 38 sq m terrace and a marble dining table for six.