Crosby Street Hotel

Firmdale's first hotel outside London opened in 2009 on a cobbled block of SoHo, and it still feels more like a private house than a hotel. Kit Kemp designed every one of the 86 rooms individually, so a repeat visitor rarely sleeps in the same scheme twice: bold prints, painted furniture, oversized headboards and warehouse style windows that frame the cast iron facades of the neighbourhood. The ground floor runs from the Crosby Bar and its ivy covered terrace to a sculpture garden in the central courtyard, with a guests only Drawing Room for those who want a quieter corner.

The building was new, which let the owners build to a high environmental standard: it is certified LEED Gold, and a kitchen garden grows on the roof. Dogs are part of the identity too; one appears in the hotel's logo, and well behaved dogs up to 40 pounds are welcome, with treats on arrival, and may even be left alone in the room.

Beneath the lobby sits a proper screening room with around a hundred seats, and afternoon tea is served daily in the Crosby Bar in the English manner. Prince and Spring Streets close the block at either end, Balthazar is around the corner, and the subway stations two minutes away take you anywhere else.