Hotel Review: The Rookery, London

The Rookery is one of the oldest buildings on Peter's Lane in Clerkenwell. It occupies a corner spot, just a two-minute walk from Farringdon Station, offering easy access to the Elizabeth Line and Thameslink trains. Sitting right between the financial district to the east and London's creative quarters to the west, it's a perfect spot for either business or leisure. St Paul's Cathedral is a ten-minute walk south of The Rookery, best visited alongside Postman's Park, where memorials to local heroes make for a fascinating diversion.

By car: the hotel is 4 hours from Manchester and under 3 hours from Bristol.

By train: Farringdon station is 2 minutes' walk away. Liverpool Street station is a 15-minute taxi ride. Book trains to London.

The Rookery really leans into its history. Established in 1764, it's one of the oldest houses in this area of London and the period charm flows throughout its corridors and cosy lounges. Think antique rugs, handmade dark wooden furniture, plush armchairs, regal marble busts and original oil paintings.

The nature of such an intimate hotel is that it has far fewer facilities than London's larger accommodations, but The Rookery is all the better for it. While it's all elegant antiques and period furniture, the hotel manages to remain a relaxed, casual place thanks to its honesty bar, where you can help yourself to drinks and just write out what you've had on the pad, and the lovely lounge areas where you can sit with a book from the library.

• Lounge
• Honesty bar
• Garden
• Free Wi-Fi

No two bedrooms are the same at The Rookery, but all are equally handsome with gold-framed paintings hanging on the walls and wooden four-poster beds. Antiques abound, with marble statues and sepia-toned spinning globes, but modern necessities such as speakers and televisions are subtly hidden away.

Room types: Club Double, Superior Double, Junior Suite, The Rook's Nest

Key amenities: ensuite bathroom with toiletries, minibar, safe, flat-screen TV, free Wi-Fi

The Rookery doesn't have a traditional restaurant or bar, but it has a fabulous honesty bar where you can help yourself to gins, whiskey, wine and beer. There is an in-room dining menu - largely pasta - and breakfast can also be ordered to the room or taken in one of the public areas should you wish.

Breakfast room: breakfast is served daily in the conservatory, or can be delivered in-room. Options include pastries, granola, bacon sandwiches and smoked salmon bagels.