40 Winks

Playground du jour for East London's art set

Word to the wise: They have monthly Bedtime Story nights, where beautiful revellers arrive in their nightgowns to be told a tale with a gin cocktail and a midnight snack.
Home to the designer David Carter, prior to its life as a hotel, 40 Winks was used as a location for fashion shoots. Now the beautiful people sleep here too, and it is possibly the most fabulous abode in East London. Fantastical, opulent, dripping in magic, it carries you away to a place of make-believe. Marble lions in the hearth, chaise longues, brass bath tubs, gold leaf wallpaper; it's both playful and luxurious, blending Victorian genteel decadence with a Vivienne Westwood-style anglophilia.

The hotel isn't about gizmos or gadgets; rather, it's just a beautiful home in which to escape from everyday practical reality. There is no typical reception area - just a hallway for your coats and shoes - and there aren't TVs in the rooms, though if you're a real addict they have a secret one in the opium den-esque drawing room upon request. How refreshingly old-fashioned.