On the corner of a Georgian terrace, overlooking the Victorian People's Park, this city hotel combines boutique chic with a friendly vibe. It is filled with period pieces, chandeliers and artworks, with a spa in the vaulted basement, and a small kitchen garden. The four glamorous main-house bedrooms , two with park views, two with a handmade brass-and-gilt bed, each have a roll-top copper bath and monsoon shower. In a new extension, smart, contemporary ‘Club’ rooms have super-king or king-size bed and monsoon shower. Best is the two-bedroom Townhouse Suite with sweeping rooftop views. All have Voya organic toiletries, robes, slippers, room service. At dinner a short menu of such dishes as wild mushroom rigatoni, lamb rump with pistachio crust, or cod with lemon cream and caper sauce, is served in the Long Room on Thursdays to Saturdays, with light bites and sharing boards on other nights. Breakfast choices include mushrooms with confit tomatoes, wilted spinach and sourdough, French toast with sour cherry compote and crème fraiche. Outside, the quirky Container Garden is home to a repurposed 1950s Ford Perfect, a petrol pump and an industrial food mixer.