The Townhouse, Mayfair, London

Flemings Mayfair has occupied a row of Georgian townhouses on Half Moon Street since 1851, which makes it one of London's oldest hotels, and it has been in the same family's hands for more than 45 years. The Townhouse is the most private part of it: a house in its own right, with a separate front door onto the street and no internal connection to the hotel, sleeping up to fifteen guests when taken in its entirety.

Inside, it divides into two apartments and two guest rooms, each decorated in its own way. The Diamond Suite is a two-bedroom garden apartment of around 154 square metres, with two king bedrooms and its own outdoor terrace. The Jubilee Suite has three bedrooms (king, queen and double) across 115 square metres. At the top of the house, reached by an internal lift, are an Executive King that sleeps three and a Deluxe Double. A private inner courtyard on the ground floor gives the house a rare pocket of outdoor space in the middle of Mayfair.

The apartments are made for living in rather than passing through. They are filled with daylight and have generous dining space, fully equipped kitchens with Siemens and Bosch appliances, a gin bar for mixing your own drinks before dinner, and a library of Taschen books. Throughout there is air conditioning, flat-screen televisions with Chromecast, and Bluetooth and wireless connectivity.

The hotel is close at hand without ever being underfoot. Guests have use of its 24-hour concierge and reception, laundry service and Technogym-equipped gym, and without leaving Half Moon Street can dine at Ormer Mayfair, the hotel's Michelin-starred restaurant, or take a drink in Manetta's Bar, the haunt of London's artists and writers in the 1930s.

Half Moon Street is a quiet residential street running off Piccadilly. Green Park Underground station is a few minutes' walk away, and the boutiques of Old Bond Street, Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace are all within easy reach on foot.

Good to know

Each apartment and room can be booked on its own, or the whole house taken exclusively for up to fifteen guests. Car transfers to and from London's airports and mainline stations can be arranged through the hotel.