What the papers say...



There’s a gentle tap on the door shortly before 8am. It’s a welcome change from a brutal, automated telephone wake-up call – especially when accompanied by a silver tray, on which sits a pot of tea, a white bone china cup and saucer, a silver sugar bowl and a silver milk jug. Pouring the tea and settling back into bed for a few more minutes, I take a long look at my surroundings as if working on a Visconti film set. The camera pans slowly from one corner to the next, past a pretty chest of drawers, a loose-covered sofa, a couple of mildly erotic 1930s prints of women, a bookshelf empty of books but housing a decanter of water and two glasses, and an antique full-length overmantle mirror. Two sheepskin rugs lie either side of the bed. Next door, the bathroom is enormous, with space for, in addition to the essentials, a proper chaise longue and a large battered cupboard. In hotel parlance, I am staying in a suite, and a remarkably private one at that because it occupies the whole floor of a Victorian stucco building in one of London’s most des res areas: just off Westbourne Grove in Nottinghill. But this isn’t a hotel. It isn’t even a bed and breakfast ( you get a choice of tea or coffee in the morning but nothing to eat). It’s simply a place to stay and it’s one of the capital’s best-kept secrets after enjoying its fourth year of business under the dedicated ownership of Caroline Main, who I’m told has worked variously as a commodities trader, horse trainer, safari guide, explorer, Mayfair club owner and DJ. Both she and her young helper, Aimee, greet me when I check in. Caroline lives on the ground floor with her son and an Alsatian dog. There are four rooms available each night for as little as £45 per person. If I were a businessman in need of a comfy bed before a big meeting, this is where I would come; if I were a tourist in need of some bohemian vibes before setting off down the Portobello Road, this is where I would come. Caroline tells me to shout if I need anything and soon I’m knocking on her door to ask for an iron. “We’ll do it for you” she says, and I skip off for dinner with the keys of the house in my pocket. It’s like staying at a friend’s except I don’t have many friends who live in such rarefied part of the town. When I get back at midnight, I notice that there’s a small television near one of the windows. But I won’t need it: this is a room where you curl up with Henry James, not Andrew Neil. The Main House, as it’s called, has a breakfast arrangement with at Tom’s (Tom Conran’s deli) around the corner. I pay £ 7.85 for a cappuccino, scramble eggs with Parma ham, roast tomatoes and toasted focaccia. What a trendy crowd! Everyone except me looks as if they’ve walked off a stage – or want to walk onto one. Aimee sorts out the paperwork before I leave and thanks me for coming. I thank her for having me and ask her to send my best wishes to Caroline. It’s all frightfully British and I love it.



A brass lion door knocker marks the front door of the unassuming Main House run by Caroline Main. With just four floors and four rooms, it has a simple aim: to provide a good night's sleep in an interesting Victorian house. Furnished with animal hide rugs, antique furniture, Asian objets d'art, and huge beds, the rooms are uncluttered and delightfully spacious. Coffee or tea is brought to your room in the morning, and breakfast is made with organic ingredients. The tiny urban terrace is a great place for stargazing or reading the morning paper. The owner can arrange to have dinner brought to your room. A day rate at the local health club is available, and bicycles can be borrowed, too. www.themainhouse.com. 4 rooms. Fans, in-room VCRs, in-room data ports, massage, babysitting, dry cleaning, laundry service, Internet, meeting rooms, airport shuttle, parking (fee); no smoking. MC, V. Tube: Notting Hill Gate. Continental breakfast.

The Main House is what the British B&B should be all about, providing not just a confortable night’s sleep, hot water that roars out of taps and proper coffee delivered to your bedside, but also value, style, real goosedown and non-allergenic duvets and Egyptian cotton sheets. And it costs from £45 per person per night which, when you consider its location - a short walk from Portobello Road and Westbourne Grove - is about as good as it gets. The fourbedroom Victorian stucco house belongs to Caroline Main, a personable, discreet owner who guards her guests' privacy (this is a real bolthole, the B&B indicated by a house number only). Decor is simple but oozes good taste: white walls, wooden floors, furniture in shades of taupe, antique mirrors and iron chandeliers. Airy, old-fashioned bathrooms feature large porcelain baths. Guests can use Lambton Place gym (a two-minute walk away), and also get a discount for breakfast at nearby Tom's (Tom Conran's deli and diner which offers a fabulous full English). The Main House also has a terrace, video library and a fridge that guests can stock themselves.

The Main attraction

MELINDA STEVENS

THE fun thing about staying in a hotel in the same city that you live in is that after you've checked in, you can head off to a party instead of eating supper in a stuffy dining room.
And the bad thing? You can drink too many cocktails at the party and find yourself in the early hours standing on the doorstep of your own house before you remember you're meant to be staying in a hotel.
I don't know why I ever left The Main House. It is lovely. It seems to have been transported straight out of another continent, another era. It feels wonderfully colonial; a gin-and tonic hangover from Twenties' Rift Valley Charming and gracious, it harks back to a time when people knew how to look after you properly; who were consummate hosts even if you'd just pitched up, without warning, with a host of ruffians demanding fresh women and song.

And it's just £45 per person a night. £45 a night! In Notting Hill! Where the stalky bit off a lychee from an organic supermarket will almost certainly cost you more.

In fact, The Main House is actually a B&B. It has just four rooms but they have been stayed in by Japanese pop stars, LA film producers and Russian princesses. The beds are huge and have proper goosedown duvets and Egyptian-cotton sheets. There are shiny, honeycomb-coloured floorboards covered in animal skins, pretty cabinets and old-fashioned drinks trays filled with decanters.

The bedrooms are spacious and elegant, with high ceilings, and the bathrooms are huge, with antique mirrors and old glass-topped urns you can use as side tables. There is even a copy of Kipling on the shelf. It makes you want to lie about and drink lemonade and write to a lover in the Serengeti.
How unusual to meet someone who can be tasteful on a budget. Where you are not charged a supplement for an extra pillow, the sofas aren't made out of sponge and covered in electric-blue gingham and where the female staff aren’t wearing a highly flammable jacket and tie

Sure, the carpet up the stairs is the colour of an old pink Fondant Fancy but, in the morning, proper full strength coffee is served on a silver tray, with a silver milk jug and a silver sugar bowl.

CAROLINE Main has been running her B&B for more than two years. A one-time commodity trader, horse trainer, safari guide, Mayfair club owner and DJ, she has spent years all over Africa and no doubt has a stack of stories up her sleeve.
At a guess, I would say she has been bitten by a snake and been made love to by a fearsome Masai warrior. Now that she runs this place while living on the ground floor, she will lend you a bicycle, get someone to sort out your ironing, fix a trip to Lambton Place Health Club, or get you a good deal for breakfast at Tom's Deli round the corner, run by Tom Conran.
When I caught up with her in the morning she was cutting her son's hair in the sitting room as light poured in from the huge windows.
The one thing Caroline can't fix is the acoustics. In an old Victorian house such as this one, noise travels. And I have a thing about noise. When I woke up it didn't take long for me to realise that the banging inside my head was also the banging outside my head.
Nevertheless, The Main House feels like a refuge. I have spoken to lots of people who, having heard about it, had noted down its details for future reference, just so that if they happened to have an argument with their boyfriend they could move in to somewhere perfectly reasonable and perfectly lovely.
When I saw that my husband left me with no keys, no money no means of getting home, I couldn’t have been more relaxed about it. I’ll be happy here, I thought: Caroline will cut my hair and, maybe if I’m lucky, she'll tell me how to knock a lion unconscious from 30 paces.

Harpers & Queen Travel Awards magazine

150 BEST PLACES ON EARTH

THE MAIN HOUSE featured as THE BEST CITY B&B

"Just a minute from Portobello Road, the appeal of this small, new b&b is in the details - huge, incredibly comfortable beds with Egyptian cotton sheets and
powerful Niagara-like showers. Private phones and Internet connections are not what you would expect of a house with just four guest rooms - all with high ceilings, original wood floors draped with animal skins, and beautiful antiques. Already Japanese pop
stars, LA film producers and Russian princesses have enjoyed the excellent service offered by hostess and owner Caroline Main. Happy to help in any way - from loaning bicycles to arranging a visit to the local Lambton Place Health Club or a night out at
private members' club L'Equipe Anglaise. Caroline has also negotiated a healthy discount for guests wanting to breakfast at the fashionable Tom's Deli around the corner."