The area is nothing short of a shopping paradise. From Harrods and Harvey Nichols and the designer brands on Sloane Street, including Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Prada, Gucci, Moncler, Todd’s and Loro Piana this really is the pinnacle of high-end retail. All this shopping is hungry work so the area has some of the best restaurants in London including Zuma on Rafael Street, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at the Mandarin Oriental, Petrus by Gordon Ramsay, The Restaurant at the Capital on Basil Street, Amaya and Marcus at the Berkeley. The new restaurant at the Jumeirah Hotel – Al Mare – is also worth trying as is a schnitzel at the Bar at The Cadogan, a Belmond hotel, on the corner of Sloane Street and Pont Street. As the area adjoins Hyde Park, this means that there can be no excuse for not enjoying a walk after such feasts and enjoying the architecture of One Hyde Park.

There is enormous variety in the architecture ranging from Garden Squares such as Cadogan Square to the South or Montpelier Square and Ennismore Gardens to the North; or to the Pont Street Dutch (a term coined by Osbert Lancaster) architecture of the large red-brick houses in Pont Street which leads from the boutiques of Beauchamp Place to the smaller mews houses around Cheval Place and Relton Mews. If you are in Cheval Place, do check out the Pandora Dress Agency for consignment designer ladies suits, dresses and coats.

The area also borders on South Kensington and shares some of the museums, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum which hosted the sold-out Alexander McQueen exhibition, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum. Of note are also 2 Churches which sit back-to-back – one Catholic – The London Oratory – and behind it Holy Trinity Brompton.