About a pad: men want Hugh's flat

About a Boy, which opened at the weekend, should come with a warning: men who watch it may suffer from extreme lifestyle-envy. Hugh Grant not only has an edgy New York hairstyle and a newly toned body - he also has the coolest bachelor pad in town. In Nick Hornby's novel on which the film is based, permateenager Will Freeman is 36. He reads the right mags, drives the right car to the right restaurants and listens to the right music. As it's set in 1993, that means he reads Time Out, iD, The Face, Arena and the NME, while Nirvana, the Pet Shop Boys and Snoop Doggy Dog are playing on the CD. He drives his GTi to Championship Vinyl on the Holloway Road, and drops in at cafès on Upper Street and pubs on the Liverpool Road in Islington.

Well, that might be good enough for Nick Hornby, but no way is it cool enough for Hugh Grant. In the movie, Grant's Freeman now has the ultimate pad in Clerkenwell: fitted with the latest electrical gadgets, chicest sofas and most desirable accessories. He drives an Audi TT, listens to rap group Mystical (though he still watches Countdown - some things never change), and reads Esquire. Instead of taking Fiona to Pizza Express, he whisks her to the immeasurably cooler Hakkasan in the West End, the Feng Shuied restaurant where Russell Crowe snacks when in town.

Everything in the book has been souped up. While love interest Rachel lives just up the road from Camden Lock in the novel, Rachel Weisz, who plays the part, has a more enviable address: One St Stephen's Crescent, Notting Hill, just round the corner from supercool Harry's Social Club, where Stella McCartney, Mick Jagger and Dougray Scott hang out. So supercool in fact that Grant (in real life) tried to get in and was turned away.

THE FLAT

Sadly, you can't buy the pad lock stock and two smokin' sofas - Working Title, the film company, built the interior as a set, complete with wooden floorboards, grey paint and pine doors. Its graphic team designed the Jazz poster, mocked up the CDs, and even built the huge aquarium. The exterior of the apartment building featured in the movie is the old Help The Aged block at the junction of Sekforde Street and St James's Walk in Clerkenwell.

THE MUST-HAVE GADGETS

Telephone BeoCom 6000, £325, and answering machine, BeoTalk 1200, £165, from Bang and Olufsen (0800 138 0525)

Siemens kettle, £99 (01908 328 400).

The Philips flat screen TV 32PF 9964 - £4,699, and Philips DVD Q5O, £299, both from Harrods

BeoSound 9000 stereo system, £2,550, and BeoLab 8000 speakers, £2,150, from Bang and Olufsen (0800 138 0525)

Audi TT (0800 699 888), Coupe quattro, £24,050. Top speed is 140mph. Goes from 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds. Includes 18-inch alloy wheels, six-speed transmission and quattro four-wheeldrive, plus heated, leather-upholstered sports seats and climate control

MUST-HAVE FURNITURE

Pamplona desk chair in brushed aluminium and leather, £495, from The Conran Shop (81 Fulham Road, SW3, 020 7589 7401)

Large coffee table in solid American black walnut, £995, from De La Espade (60 Sloane Avenue, SW3, 020 7581 4474)

Leather-strap lounge chair in walnut and chocolatebrown leather, £945 each, from De La Espade (60 Sloane Avenue, SW3 020 7581 4474)

Trooper aluminium pendant lamp, £69, from Habitat (0845 6010740)

The sofa in the film is from EFDC (18-24 Westbourne Grove, W2, 020 7243 0203) and is covered in Andrew Martin suede (200 Walton Street, 020 7225 5100). You can get a similar one, called Groovy for £599, from Habitat.