One can happily spend hours tracing the hotel's history through the numerous framed photograph

LOCATION

Just around the corner from the Indian Museum, and a resident of Sudder Street since 1783; five minutes from the buzz of the famous New Market – but also a resting place for some of Calcutta's homeless families.

CHARACTER

The colonial-style Fairlawn is a Calcutta institution and the kind of eccentric family-run hotel I love. Its charming matriarch, Violet Smith, has managed the hotel since the Sixties and sometimes dons a dress to match the hotel's prevailing shades of green.

The garden and shady balconies offer nooks and crannies in which to hide away and one can happily spend hours tracing the hotel's history through the numerous framed photographs, reviews and articles that paper the interior stairwell; lounges are packed with Violet's bric-a-brac.

ROOMS

A bargain at under £30 a night – though it feels as if you are staying at your grandmother's. While a little ramshackle, the rooms are spacious and have great character and charm but, despite recent refurbishment, they still feel as if one is stepping back into the Fifties. Get a room at the back, off a pleasant veranda, where it is quieter. Some of the rooms are directly off the sitting room, which isn't a problem if you are on friendly terms with
fellow guests.

FOOD

Generally the hotel restaurant serves a basic breakfast and unexceptional Indian and continental food. Don't be put off as there are places nearby offering tasty alternatives.

WE LIKE

The Fairlawn is special. I adore the delightful old retainers, most of whom have been with Violet for more than 50 years. It is delightfully idiosyncratic and staying there gives an insight into Calcutta and the humour of the Bengali.

NOT SO KEEN

I think the character and family atmosphere of this hotel vastly outweighs what it lacks in mod cons. A little rewiring wouldn't go amiss but all in all it would be a tragedy to drag this hotel too far into the 21st century.

ESSENTIALS

0091 33 2252 1510; www.fairlawnhotel.com