OT: Which is your favourite hotel in the world?
Jade Jagger: Well, I am a born traveller and love destinations, but (if ) you are asking for a brick-and-mortar edifice that becomes a hotel, because of a lot of things that go into it—location, food, service, ambience…One place that scores reasonably okay for me would be the Mercer Hotel (from $625; www.mercerhotel.com) in New York. And I am looking at it from the point of view of a comfortable hotel and its location bang in the middle of SoHo!

OT: Why has this one stuck in your head?
Jade Jagger: Well, it’s contemporary; it pampers you; and it allows you to breathe. The exteriors are old-world Revivalesque. I like that—it makes it stand apart from otherbuildings around it. I like gardens and greenery, and this hotel has a lot of it for a place in New York. It is cosy and quaint—a hotel with the soul of a home.

OT: Old-world hospitality too, within?
Jade Jagger: The advantage of being a small hotel is that the staff can pay attention to every guest. I hate travelling to places where I need to find someone to talk to. Even more disconcerting is the feeling that they’re in a hurry to get on with their work. This doesn’t happen at the Mercer. The staff make me feel like they have all the time in the world for me and yet are not neglecting their work.

OT: And the F&B holds its own on the NYC scene?
Jade Jagger: They have a rather large eating area—called The Kitchen—which is spread over two levels. It’s all about the inviting, informal, home-kitchen ambience, where communal dining tables and an open-plan kitchen make eating a multi-sensory experience. Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten does unbelievable alchemy. I cannot recall all that I have eaten here… I had a Black Sea Bass once and thought I had gone to heaven. A lot of their food is based on fresh seasonal produce. They also do the warmest Valrhona Chocolate Cake—that is my idea of sin.