A la Colthard/Cannizzaro House Wimbledon

The main assets of Cannizaro House are its gardens and the white palladian villa.

Its location is on the west side of Wimbledon Common within walking distance of the buzzy village. Wimbledon’s (District Line) Tube station takes you into central London and its rail station is one stop away from the hub at Clapham Common.

So it makes a sensible alternative to high-priced central London hotels.

A few years ago standards had dropped – service and cuisine were so poor that local rich denizens of SW19 avoided it.

Now under the ownership and management of the Hotel du Vin group it’s much improved though – as I found in my three-night stay – there is still room for more. Service was still on the slow side and – worse – my “same day laundry” took nearly 3 days. True, they gave me complimentary drinks and snacks, but I would have preferred my laundry back.

It has an eclectic clientele and, I guess. is fully booked for Wimbledon tennis week and Fulham footballers, recently acquired, are also put up here.

At £250 per night it’s much cheaper than Central London hotels and for this, its location it makes sense to stay.