Hotel Le Corbusier, Marseille

Not far from Marseille's Vélodrome stadium and the scene of England's rugby defeat to France on Saturday night, (which we'll gloss over for now), is the Hotel Le Corbusier, in which we spent Friday night, a masterpiece of modular design. The hotel is housed on the third floor of an original stilted building, La Cité Radieuse, with some fabulous features, including the roof features and stained glass window pictured below.

The best part is that it isn't a museum, but a living building. Most of it is residential, we met a guy who had what sounded like a marvellous split-level apartment and there are also little shops inside, a creche, architect's office and psychiatrist all making use of the Cité Radieuse for their businesses.

We took a tiny Cabine room, below, which at just 16m2, was modelled on the monk's cells in the Tourette monastry near Lyon. With Charlotte Perrian-designed furniture, most of the original features had been retained, those added later were inkeeping with the minimalist chic of the whole project. The bigger rooms are even more impressive, with huge panoramic windows, oak parquet and balconies looking out onto either the sea or the city.