Special Places to Stay - More than a bed for the night

Clerkenwell has the highest concentration of design, architectural and engineering practices in the world. As the newspaper offices closed down and the printers moved out, they moved in. There are artists, too, journalists who've never left and enough grit among the gentrification to replace chi-chi with urban cool. Delightful pedestrianised Exmouth Market, home to Moro and Caravan, is a block away and you can walk to Bloomsbury and the British Museum. Step off a mirrored courtyard into a large, high-ceilinged, pine-panelled living room with a huge stone hearth, a wood-burner and sheepskin rugs. The retro opaque glass pendants were snapped up at the dissembling of a village hall and look just right, along with the Ercol dining table, the vast sofa bed and the travel trunks that transported the Tonkins' possessions home from Calcutta. The kitchen has all for the keen chef; the shower is simple and high spec; the bedroom is spartan in a head-clearing way. The architect owners live and work in the rest of this five-storey, late Georgian house, happy to point you towards eateries, cycling routes, walks and quirky sights.