3 of a kind

Town house hotels

CANAL HOUSE, AMSTERDAM

[ canalhouse.nl ]

Tall 17th, 18th and 19th century merchants’ houses cluster together to make this classical, quirky hotel on the canal. It is nicely located on one of the rings of canals that clasp the core of Amsterdam, in the cultural Jordaan district, putting you in the cultivated quarter of cultivated quarters. The purple, grey and black decor is boho mixed with deep, dark Dutch colours that recall masters such as Rembrandt and Vermeer, and their depictions of rooms beneath the grey northern light.

While one of the joys of Amsterdam is sitting out among the hoards drinking coffee on canal banks, you can also escape here to a back garden that is remarkably upscale for this watertight city. There’s a lounging spot overlooking the garden than has an industrial feel, and a more ornate bar facing the canal.

Rooms: there are 23 rooms ranging in size and facilities from “Good” to “Best”. Silks, velvets and wooden floors bring a deep warmth. Some rooms have basins that are modern takes on traditional bowls on washstands and some have original fireplaces. Rooms at the top have wonderful views of the canals and their bike-lined bridges. Doubles from €240.

ELIOT HOTEL, BOSTON

370 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, US,

[ eliothotel.com ]

The building was originally constructed for professors of Harvard, not far from here, and the Eliot also happens to be across the river from MIT. The 1925 neo-Georgian building is in the Back Bay area of Boston on a tree-lined (but busy enough) street near shopping at Newbury Street, Fenway Park, cafes and galleries. The hotel prides itself on its European – ie, classical – style and its Clio restaurant serves French-American fusion food in a take on a 1920s Paris supper club. Its décor, like that of the other townhouses, has a fresh yet traditional feel giving it historicism with a lack of stuffiness, something underlined by its child and pooch-friendly policy. And its Uni bar pulls in the Boston set.

Rooms: 79 of the 95 rooms are one- and two-bed suites in a mix of French-country and US colonial style, shot through with toile and silk. The walk-in showers are in Italian marble. Doubles from $255 (€203.80). In some cases children and teens stay for free.

ST JAMES’S HOTEL AND CLUB, LONDON

[ stjamesclubandhotel.co.uk ]

This hotel comes with hard-hitting credentials: it is right in the heart of Piccadilly and St James’s, it is in a royal borough and close to St James’s Palace – a royal connection that American visitors especially like – and its intimate Seven Park Place restaurant comes with a Michelin star. Chef William Drabble oversees all the food in the hotel so the lesser-priced bistro and executive meeting rooms pull in day visitors.

Yet it wears all of this with a quiet elegance. It is in a cul-de-sac, not far to the rear of the Ritz, making it remarkably quiet for its location. It once was – and still is to some extent – a club and was recently refurbished to take out the traditional-gentlemen look and replace it with an interior that combines old-style London townhouse elegance with a fresh sumptuousness: created by silk wallpaper, Murano glass light fittings and crystal door handles (worth £200 a pop). There are towels, fruit and drinks by a downstairs back door that has a private path to Green Park, for that morning jog.

Rooms: there are 60 rooms and suites, with sultry black and chrome bathrooms kitted out with Penhaligon’s toiletries (the fragrance company began on nearby Jermyn Street). Some rooms have balconies and the Westminster suite has its own outdoor terrace with a rare view, taking in Big Ben, the London Eye and the centralised locality. Doubles from £250m (€312).