I BLAME IT on hen nights: the sight of a stretch limousine used to make me wonder which megawatt celebrity was inside. But nowadays ten Bacardi Breezered-up women heckling from the window is the only signal you need that it’s not Tom Cruise.

If you want your transport to delight for the right reasons, you need something more glamorous than an elongated mobile disco. Such as the Maybach, an extra-special limo with no whiff of trash about it (if you need reassuring, it will cost £500,000 to buy). Funnily enough, I had no reservations about swapping my usual C2 bus for a chauffeur-driven day of luxury in a vehicle beloved of ambassadors and pop stars alike (Alicia Keys features the car in one of her videos).

The plush carpet makes you feel you have a sleeping panther at your feet, and electronically controlled curtains cover the windows. Initially I felt a little as if I’d been laid out in a very grand coffin, but after sinking into the leather chairs to enjoy the solid-silver champagne flutes and personal DVD players, I realised why it has been compared to a private jet. The seats will adopt more than 100 positions, and even have a massage facility. As my companion remarked, the only problem with this car is that it doesn’t take off.

The interior is so roomy that one bride recently hired a Maybach because her dress wouldn’t fit in a Bentley. I was too comfortable to care what impression it made, although when we arrived outside Harrods the doorman rushed to open the car door faster than you can say “£50 tip”. As we parked to get a coffee in Primrose Hill I got some disappointed looks as I stepped out in scruffy jeans.

And did I really hear someone whisper “Is she in Emmerdale?” as I was heading home? The Maybach’s “wow” factor still hasn’t left me. You can take the girl out of the car . . . unfortunately you can also take the car off the girl when the hire fee is up.

Maybach 62 from Royal Silver Service: 08701 993910

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