Number Sixteen

About Number Sixteen

Number Sixteen sits on Sumner Place, a white stucco Victorian terrace a couple of minutes from South Kensington station. It is one of Kit and Tim Kemp's Firmdale hotels, and it is the quietest and most domestic of them - four townhouses knocked together into a single hotel of 41 rooms, with no restaurant and no lobby bar, just a drawing room, a conservatory and a garden.

The garden is the reason to book. It runs behind the houses, properly planted around a small pond, and in warm weather breakfast, afternoon tea and evening drinks are served out there. The conservatory opens onto it and works year round. Rooms are individually decorated in Kit Kemp's style - bold fabrics, commissioned artwork, headboards in unexpected patterns - and manage to be characterful without tipping into fuss. Sizes vary considerably between the standard rooms and the garden suites, so it is worth reading the descriptions.

There is no restaurant, but room service runs all day and the drawing room does an honesty bar. This is a deliberate choice: the hotel is set up for people who intend to eat out, and South Kensington and Chelsea give plenty of options within a short walk.

The location suits museum trips above all. The V&A, Natural History and Science Museums are five minutes away on foot, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens ten, and the Piccadilly and District lines run direct into the West End and the City. It is a good choice for couples and for anyone who finds large hotels wearing.