The Savoy, London

The city seemed a lot duller without the American Bar and Savoy Grill. But after the hotel’s three-year refurbishment they returned in 2010, more deco-tastic than ever. The American is still where you go to impress; but the Beaufort Bar, on the site of the old cabaret stage, is deco at its most decadent. New owners Fairmont have also shown some much-overdue love to the venerable Simpson’s In The Strand: cosy and clubby as ever, just without the rather stale odour of overcooked beef and male privilege that used to hang over the place.

The general manager who made The Savoy’s name was one César Ritz (who went on to start his own rather famous hotels). But if you want to know where the era of deco glam began, uprooting the florals and swirls of art nouveau, slamming the door on Edwardian stuffiness, it’s here.