Observations: Pillow talk in the East End

Forget dressing up for a night at the theatre. One London establishment is actively encouraging patrons into their pyjamas. The excuse for this decadence is the latest in a series of Literary Pyjama Parties at 40 Winks, an East End’s boutique hotel.

The exquisite Queen Anne townhouse sits somewhat incongruously on the bottle-necked Mile End Road somewhere between Whitechapel and Stepney Green. But to step inside is like falling down Alice's rabbit-hole and landing in the Limehouse opium den of Dorian Gray. The hotel's proprietor David Carter is a much sought-after interior designer, a Beaton-esque figure whose house is a cornucopia of lost and found objects.

Carter hosted his first Pyjama Party there in June and it proved so popular that he now employs award-winning storyteller Rachel Rose Reid as resident Curator of Tales. Next week, from 9 to 11 February, sees a Valentine's special, with stories of kisses, crushes, lovers meeting and dashing derring-do. Party-goers will be treated to a Givenchy fragrance bar and some silky samples from the aptly named Bedtime Stories collection by Elle Macpherson, also rumoured to be attending, before the evening closes with some live music from a special guest – Paloma Faith appeared at the last event.

40winks.org