The Coach Hotel

Clerkenwell

Set on the Clerkenwell cobbles is this 18th-century inn, concealing an oak-panelled bar, French bistro and four trendy rooms behind its neighbourhood-pub exterior. Slide past the pint-sipping crowd to the intimate Back Room, where chef Henry Harris dazzles with an indulgent menu. French onion soup comes thick with alliums and topped with a glorious cap of Gruyère, ending with a giant, soup-soaked sourdough crouton to meet you at the bottom. Juicy grilled rabbit leg wrapped in Alsace bacon and mustard sauce is a good pick for main or, for something lighter, fillet of cod swimming in a tangy piperade sauce.

Squirrelled away at the top of the stairs (far enough from the pub to ensure a good night’s sleep and close enough to stumble upstairs to after you’ve polished off a bottle of red), are mid-century inspired bedrooms. Mirroring the interiors of some of London’s chic hotels, rooms are bedecked in silvery grey hues with overhanging globe lamps, bold artwork and a retro radio humming in the background. Stark, white-tiled bathrooms with contrasting black-framed sliding doors and plentiful Bramley toiletries have us hooked. Doubles from £180.