IT'S AROUND 7pm on Friday evening.

It also just happens to be the warmest night of the year so far. London's pavements are teeming with after-work drinkers optimistic that summer may finally have arrived. The timing couldn't be better.

Click here now for amazing offers to London!

It is the first week of the opening of the quirky Zetter Townhouse on the edge of cobbled St John's Square in London's trendy Clerkenwell.

There have been so many London hotel openings recently it's hard to keep up. From the long-awaited refurbishment of The Savoy to the ultra-modern W in Leicester Square and the all-white boutique St John in Soho. However, nothing can prepare you for the unique and eclectic Zetter Townhouse, cousin of the Zetter Hotel which opened in 2004 and sits on the opposite side of the square. That is where the similarities end. Whereas the Zetter is minimal with retro tendencies its Townhouse cousin is an amalgam of every design style ever conceived.

Weaving our way through the crowds of drinkers spilling into the square, Ant and I enter into a Dickensian London living room which extends over two rooms.
There is a buzz coming from the patrons seated at the dozen or so low tables, each with a different display of fresh flowers, a clutch of colourful bud roses here, a mini Singapore orchid there. It's hard to know where to look.

Perhaps at the bar staff in their jaunty cropped jackets and cravats who are so good looking they were surely recruited from a model agency.
Alternatively, you could peruse some of the leather-bound books lining the floor-to-ceiling shelves.

Want incredible deals to London? Click here now...

Secreted across others is endless bric-a-brac such as colourful art deco glass vases, leather cutlery boxes, shells and old photographs. On the marble fireplace, two elegant crystal obelisks vie for attention with the camp chandelier candelabras and stuffed cockatoo. Furniture is equally "vintage" with thick velvet-covered chairs and sofas and highly polished walnut coffee tables.

Adjoining the lounge is a formal dining room, complete w ith wooden dining table, oversized white urns, silver candlesticks and antiques drinks cabinet. It is used as an overflow for the bar or rented out for private functions. More antiques and curios abound, including a stuffed life-size kangaroo, looking like it's about to pounce. It's an arresting piece and aptly sums up the mood of fun and frivolity.

The whole place reminds me of a private residence of an eccentric old aunt, exactly the feel owners Michael Benyan and Mark Sainsbury wanted to evoke. In fact, they are so keen for guests to embrace the whole, wacky ambience, they've created an utterly believable fictional story of the history of the hotel. The "real" owner is Aunt Wilhelmina, w ho travelled the world collecting treasures and cocktail recipes, which she kept in an old jam jar. How refreshing in a world of predictable, sombre hotel design.

Friendly staff whisk our bags up to our room (No 4 of 13) via a vibrant carpeted staircase resplendent in hot pink and bright orange stripes. The bedroom is almost entirely taken up by a four-poster with ornate carved headboard and canopy bedecked in Union Flags, the perfect Royal Wedding room. There are even old hand-held flags against the windows, just begging to be w aved at the pedestrians below. Small, ornate, carved shutters on one wall open to reveal the bathroom.

Midnight munchies are well catered for too. An old desk is covered with treats including biscuits, Green & Blacks choccies and crisps. There's a kettle, cafetiere and a cool Bakelite telephone that actually works. Water in old bottles comes straight from the Zetter's own borehole.

I love the fact I can dim the bathroom lights and the "raindance" shower with its Ren toiletries is superb. We enjoy pre-dinner cockails at the bar. Resembling an old apothecary, the Cocktail Lounge is a collaboration between the Zetter and award-winning bar 69 Colebrooke Row in Islington. It's lined with large glass urns and little bottles of bitters and herbal remedies which feature in the cocktails. There's even one for a hangover, which is handy.

Clerkenwell was famous for its breweries and gin distilleries and the bar pays homage to that heritage.

I ORDER A Treaty Of 1854, a very grown-up lemonade whose main ingredient is Kigo and which is served in an old jam jar (I presume Aunt Wilhelmina bought the recipe back from Japan where Kigo originates). Ant chooses a Twinkle, a concoction of Wyborowa vodka, elderflower and champagne. Delicious and dangerous. Tasty bar snacks of parmesan biscuits (£3) and courgette fritters (£4.50) tide us over until dinner in the Bistro Bruno Loubet in the Zetter opposite. We could have ordered room service with tempting dishes such as butternut squash soup (£5) and charcuterie platter (£7.50) but felt like being amongst it.

With its brilliant white walls, huge windows and bustling atmosphere, entering the bistro is like returning to the 21st century after the charmingly cluttered Townhouse.
The salmon tartare served with artisan bread and parmesan crisps is just the ticket, while Ant chooses oxtail with vichy carrots and bread sauce and voices his approval between eager mouthfuls.

The next morning I take breakfast in our room, relishing the opportunity to be able to stay a little longer. Fresh croissants, pastries, rye toast, homemade strawberry jam and fresh fruit, all beautifully arranged and delicious.

Through the window, I can see the square coming to life with café owners pulling tables and chairs out on to the cobbles for the first al fresco breakfast of the year.
That optimism, it seems, is spreading.

GETTING THERE:
The Zetter Townhouse (020 7324 4545/thezettertownhouse.com) offers doubles from £222 per night (two sharing), room only