Dukes Bar at Dukes Hotel

Dukes Bar is often held to be home to the world’s best martinis – they were good enough for Ian Fleming, after all. Prepared with great ceremony at the table, these mixes are as lethal as any bullet from 007’s Walther PPK: two will finish off just about anyone. Elsewhere, Dukes’ charms run to a Cognac & cigar ‘garden’ where you can sit among the potted palms & enjoy a Montecristo No 4 with a balloon of Martell Cordon Bleu Cognac (£12) – or a swankier pairing, if someone else is paying. The newest addition to the set-up is the PJ (as in Perrier-Jouët) Champagne lounge: order a flute of Belle Epoque au naturel in this frowsy, pistachio & hibiscus-toned salon – a spot that would surely appeal to another novelist: Barbara Cartland.