Camberwell is a gritty south London district with plenty of buzz - it's home to a big art college and a teaching hospital. Even so, the main drag on a Saturday night is not for the faint-hearted and a corner next to a kebab shop is an inauspicious location for a boutique hotel.

That hasn't deterred the two brothers who have just opened The Church Street Hotel, a 30-room venture with a Hispanic feel. We chose a "Mambo Room" - the bathroom is Mexican-tiled, Frida Kahlo looms over the lavatory, and white-painted furniture evokes a country estate (although one with a flat-screen TV and DVD player).