The Queensberry

Near the city centre but surprisingly quiet, this stylishly quirky hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant occupies a quartet of Georgian town houses, each backed by a garden. They were built for the 8th Marquess of Queensberry, whose passion for boxing can be traced throughout. Owners Laurence and Helen Beere are hands-on alongside manager Joss Roussanne, all overseeing the final stages of a four-year refurbishment. Bedrooms offer a smart home-from-home feel. Georgian features – marble fireplaces, high ceilings, sash windows – are complemented by designer wallpapers and colourful furnishings; toiletries are by The White Company. After a drink in the Old Q bar – perhaps a G&T made with 6 O’Clock Gin from Bristol – dinner guests proceed downstairs to the Olive Tree where chef Chris Cleghorn produces such culinary delights as longhorn-beef tartar with Exmoor caviar and Woolley Park Farm duck with beetroot, sea beet and kumquat. In the bar hangs a spoof of the Queensberry Rules. Top of the list: ‘Manners, decorum and kindness to be shown at all times.’ It’s a rule that the ‘attentive and friendly’ staff take seriously.