Proprietor: Robert De Niro

Location: Greenwich Village, New York, USA

If you've been wondering why Robert De Niro's movies have been a bit, well, pish lately, it could be because he's been busier scouring hotel plans than scripts. His first venture into hospitality (excluding the deleted scene from Taxi Driver where Travis bakes muffins) is in partnership with his son Raphael. The result is a meticulously designed 88-room Manhattan hotel - and we mean meticulous spelt m-e-t-h-o-d: its shibui spa was shipped lock-stock from Japan and rebuilt by hand by a man dangling from the ceiling (not Bobby, apparently), while each of the bricks that adorn its façade was hand-crafted to make it look craggy and weather-beaten. A bit like the great man himself.