Hotels

Mandeville

Seeking to transform an unremarkable traditional hotel into something more appropriate to the area, the Mandeville’s owners gave interior designer Stephen Ryan the opportunity to make a style statement. The hotel’s dreary Boswells pub duly became the DeVille restaurant, with neo-Victorian wall-paper and life-size mannequins, while the DeVigne bar (where the wasabi martini is a thing of joy) sports an eye-popping combination of mink suede sofas, primary-coloured leather stools and Dutch Master paintings given a Day-Glo lippy makeover. Those expecting further theatrics in the bedrooms will be disappointed, however. The rooms are perfectly nice, with faux leather headboards, Versace-esque classical-print curtains and Italian marble bathrooms, but don’t feel big enough or glam enough to match the prices. Still, the pink suite is pleasingly eccentric, with movie-star mirrors in the upstairs bathroom and a terrific rooftop terrace under a retractable awning.

Services

Concierge Bar Restaurant Internet (dataport, £5/hr; wireless) TV (satellite) Room service (24hr) Disabled-adapted rooms

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