Broadwick Soho, London: First In

Character and identity

Two pink top-hatted elephants mark the entrance on Broadwick Street, setting the tone for what waits inside: a 57-room Soho hotel decked out by Martin Brudnizki in a riot of pink parrot prints, green and gold panelling, and original works by Bacon, Riley, and Warhol. Azzi Glasser's oud-led scent drifts through the lobby. Four distinct food and drink spaces span the building: ground-floor café-bar Bar Jackie, lower-ground Italian restaurant Dear Jackie, seventh-floor rooftop Flute with wraparound terrace, and guests-only nightcap den The Nook. Service is smartly turned out, warm, and conspiratorial rather than starchy.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What you're really paying for is atmosphere: a Brudnizki-designed Soho playground with four genuinely good bars and restaurants stacked into one building, all a pink door away from the neighbourhood's best eating and drinking. Book if you want fun over polish; angle for a higher-floor room with rooftop views, and aim for warmer months when Flute's terrace is in play.