Have you ever been in an art gallery just as it was about to close and felt sorry that all those works of art were going to be unobserved and unappreciated all night? There is an unusual art gallery in the centre of South Kensington, where art lovers are not required to leave the building at 6pm.

The Gallery, which specialises in early 20th Century Paintings, is located in a quite side street opposite the Natural History Museum. It is not just an art gallery; it is also a hotel, one of three so called boutique hotels run by the company English Elegant Hotels. doNOWdo was given the opportunity to have a special tour by Marketing Manager, Pavan Soni.

From the outside, it would be easy to miss the Gallery. There are no flags, no large sign; the entrance is marked by a discreet square plaque, no bigger than a dinner plate. It looks like a rather grand, private London house.

Work by Sir Henry Raeburn

Step through the door and the illusion is maintained. This effect is achieved through a number of different elements. It is partly the mahogany panelled walls; it is partly the paintings on the wall, each one of them an original, ranging from old family type portraits, floral arrangements to a rather fine Stubbs influenced picture of a dog against an English landscape. There is a portrait of William Walker by Sir Henry Raeburn, whose works are also included in the Tate and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, other paintings are by Aarold Wyllen, Steven Scholes and James North.

There are many other individual touches: old sepia photographs in silver frames are set out on the occasional tables. There is antique oriental porcelain in a display cabinet. The chairs and sofas are comfortable and all are antiques. Rather than the uniformity of the usual hotel lounge, they are upholstered in different materials which nonetheless tone together to create an atmosphere of quiet opulence.

William Morris influence

There is a chess set laid out ready to play; backgammon is available. Downstairs is the highly decorated William Morris Room. Born in 1834, William Morris was one of the pioneers of the Arts and Crafts Movement. He was passionate about design and his wallpapers and fabrics have become the epitome of the English look.

 At the Gallery, the William Morris Room sees the walls covered in the traditional Honeysuckle wallpaper, designed in 1883; the carpets are also a William Morris design and the lights and furniture add to the atmosphere. There is even an antique piano complete with sheet music just waiting to be played. Upstairs the Gallery continues with the art gallery theme. There are amazing paintings everywhere, in the corridors and in the bedrooms. At the top of the building are two incredible penthouse suites each of which opens out on to a private roof terrace.

 My favourite was the Rossetti suite (Rosetti was himself a friend of William Morris). The room is decorated in the Victorian gothic style, which, with its canopied bed and generous proportions, gave an impression of pure luxury. Though the styling may be Victorian, I noted that the suite had some distinctly modern touches such as the wide screen TV, broadband access and spa bath.

 Why boutique? “Why were the hotels called boutique?” I asked Pavan “These days you have to offer something special,” he explained, “all hotels offer a bed to sleep in and breakfast to eat and once they are up to a certain standard there is often very little difference between them. We try to make a visit special through the service we offer. We are also special because we are small – the Gallery only has 36 rooms - but because of that we can give guests individual attention. We feel the term boutique sums up the small size but the special quality.” This attention to service has been recognised. The hotel has been awarded the Red Diamond for excellence.

Focus on service

 Service at the Gallery, Pavan explained, was not an add-on but was at the centre of the way the hotel was run. The deliberate understatement is all important to guests who can be concerned about security.

“We lock the door at 11pm.” Pavan continued; “guests knock when they want to come in just as they would in a private house. Our staff are up all night and they will look through the peephole and make sure it someone we recognise. We find that our guests feel more secure knowing that this is the case.” The feeling that you are in an English stately home goes beyond the décor and the atmosphere – the butlers, you note they are butlers not reception staff, make a point of remembering the names and preferences of the guests.

“We have one guest who comes here,” Pavan explained, “and when he checks in he likes to be given a glass of chilled white wine. We know that and we make sure that he is always given one without having to ask for it. He likes the feeling that we remember and that we care.” A similar attention the detail is given to the room service. Room Service here is a loose description because it doesn’t extend just to the rooms. While there is no formal restaurant, guests can order a meal to be served at any time and can take it in their rooms or while relaxing in one of the reception rooms such as the William Morris room.

 Pavan tells me that the Gallery full English breakfasts have become famous and are cooked specially for each guest. Despite the temptation, he limits himself to indulging just one a week. “But if you are sightseeing it will really set you up for the day,” he said. I wasn’t sure that doNOWdo staff would be so abstemious.

Really relax

The hotel prides itself on making sure that your day goes smoothly. “At English Elegant Hotale, we try to take care of everything Pavan explained. “We can lay on theatre tickets, arrange a day trip to Paris, tickets for the Opera, whatever a guest wants, we will sort it out.” Indeed, the feeling of being cared for has ensured that over 70% of the Gallery’s visitors are repeat customers.

Perhaps unusually for a South Kensington hotel, a high proportion of them now come from Britain. “People come up for the theatre, to see the sites and have a wonderful weekend; they like going out to the many excellent restaurants in the area or do a spot of shopping but then they like to come back to somewhere which feels familiar and where they can really relax.”

While the Gallery caters primarily for visitors to South Kensington who want somewhere special to stay; it also provides the opportunity for a fascinating interlude for those who would like to take afternoon tea and have a well earned respite from the rigours of sightseeing and look at the pictures from the comfort of a deep arm chair and not worry about being required to leave by 6pm.

For more information or to enquire about rates visit the Gallery Hotel.