From floor-to-ceiling windows, look out over a glittering skyline, comfortable in the knowledge you are standing right where it matters - on Park Lane, with the city's best bar and restaurant in the very same building.

It is your private haven at the heart of the metropolis, a place to retreat to when the need for quiet comes upon you.

The hotel's sleek yet serene urban image combines soft whites, pear-wood panelling, suede upholstery and pure Egyptian cottons. Colours are subtle, featuring cosseting mauves and warm plum. Carefully selected pieces of antique Asian furniture introduce soft, Eastern accents.

This is the work of Keith Hobbs, regarded as a true innovator in hotel design for the modern generation. Natural light floods the spaces, while walls of glass draw you into the city. It is an uplifting perspective, proof of simplicity's power, and the chic appeal of understatement.

MET BAR - When it first opened in 1997, this sultry night time haunt became a byword for cool, answering a sophisticated need for privacy and energy, in a space reserved for hotel guests and members only. Interiors are clad in decadent red leathers, waiters in custom-made Armani. Bar staff - called 'mixologists' at the Met - create bespoke Martinis while headline DJs spin London's lounge sounds.