Bvlgari Hotel London

Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel drew it, and the 85 rooms and suites came out well past the size of most five star hotels: 40 square metres for a Superior, 43 and up for a Deluxe, where a bathtub of black Marquina marble sits apart from the shower. The 86 square metre Knightsbridge Suites carry detailed woodwork and a nautical turn that leaves them closer to a stateroom than a bedroom, with a view across Knightsbridge to Hyde Park. On the upper levels the Bvlgari Suites are apartments in all but name, with open fireplaces and dining rooms set for eight. The presidential one adds a bar and an office.

The spa holds eleven treatment rooms and a hairdresser, and its pool is colonnaded, 25 metres long and three lanes wide, clad in the textured Vicenza stone Italian architecture has leaned on since Palladio. The vitality pool, jetted for a full body massage, is lined with tiny gold leaf glass tiles. White curtains hang at the cabanas, which open onto the water.

At street level Sette, the first London restaurant from New York's Scarpetta group, sets a circular marble bar at the front and a walk-in cellar of more than 100 bins at the back, with Nolita Social running late one floor below. Edward Sahakian's cigar shop keeps its rare Havanas in a locked vault at 11 degrees and 68 percent humidity, unvaried through the year. The 47 seat screening room is dedicated to Sir Richard Attenborough. The doormen park the cars.