If Costes is a pose too far, the bar at Pershing Hall boutique hotel (see Sleep) gets cocktail-hour glamour just right.

The scale and grandeur of the rococo bar is perfect for the handsome room, and the pink and blue lighting creates a sensational, escapist impression. It’s a pleasure to ascend the sweeping staircase, pass the restaurant (celebrated for its jungly vertical garden) and sip champagne among ruby-red Murano glass chandeliers and vases.

If it all sounds rather classical, it ain’t; the Andrée Putman design is boldly contemporary, and DJs set the place athrob most nights (there’s a tiny dancefloor, in case the mood takes you). Clientele tend to be, or look like, media/fashion people, as fashion-conscious as you’d expect in this part of the world.