Malahne

Malahne is one of the very few yachts from the 1930s that still takes guests for a week, and she does it without pretending to be modern. Her story begins at the Camper & Nicholsons yard two years before the Second World War; much later, the film crew of Lawrence of Arabia used her as their production base, and Hollywood names of the time came aboard as guests. A painstaking restoration at Pendennis was completed in 2015 and earned her a prize at the 2016 World Superyacht Awards.

Her interior is what most charterers come for. Guy Oliver, the Scottish designer known for his work at Claridge's in London, took it back to its Art Deco roots, with a lighting scheme built from original 1930s materials, dark woods and patterned fabrics. At table you eat with Georg Jensen silver dating from 1937 and drink from Baccarat crystal, and after dinner there is a piano and a library instead of a cinema. Each cabin has its own furniture and a writing desk, more like a room in a period hotel than a yacht stateroom.

In summer the owner's launch, a 7.5-metre varnished mahogany tender built by Cockwells, does the runs ashore at up to 35 knots, and pulling into a harbour in it is part of the pleasure. Her paperwork covers charters in Greek waters as well as the western Mediterranean, so a week can follow the old routes of the Riviera or of the Cyclades.

She fits a couple or a small family who care about history, design and food, and who will enjoy a formal dinner as much as a swim off the stern. Two of her cabins are singles, which works for children or a travelling companion but not for a group of couples. Guests who want a beach club, a gym or a large toy box should look at a contemporary yacht instead.