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Your key is on the wall.

Twenty-two quiet rooms in the south-west corner of the city, a few minutes’ walk from the market. Carry a key to the desk and we’ll show you the room.Twenty-two quiet rooms, a few minutes from the market.

Brush the keys. Lift one down to the desk, or tap it, to open its room.Run a finger along the keys. Tap one, or hold it and carry it to the desk.

Every room has a brass tag on the wall. Choose one to read about it.

Sconce please ring

Tab to a key, Enter to take it to the desk, Escape to hang it back.

The rooms

Twenty-two rooms, four kinds.

Every room has lined linen curtains, double glazing and a lamp you’ll leave on. The kinds differ in what the window looks at, so choose by the view and by how lightly you sleep.

Open any room from its name, or take its key down from the wall.

A Courtyard room with the lamps on: a bed made in heavy linen, a coral-shaded sconce, and plane-tree leaves close to the window.
Photographed: a Courtyard room

Courtyard 8 rooms

Eight rooms onto the plane tree, away from the street.

  1. The Fern WallFirst floor · Queen · Ferns on the courtyard wallA courtyard wall grown over with ferns, green even in a dry February.
  2. The BenchFirst floor · Twin · The courtyard benchOver the bench where the kitchen takes its tea at four.
  3. The WellFirst floor · Queen · Down the light wellThe light well catches the morning for an hour, and the rest of the day is soft.
  4. The Plane TreeSecond floor · King · The plane tree, close to the glassThe tree is close enough to hear in a breeze.
  5. The Upper LeavesSecond floor · Twin · The top of the plane treeIn autumn the window goes gold for about three weeks.
  6. The SwallowsSecond floor · Queen · The courtyard eavesUnder the eaves, where the swallows come back each spring.
  7. The HushThird floor · Queen · The courtyardThe quietest room we have. We keep it for light sleepers when we can.
  8. The TreetopThird floor · King · Over the plane treeAbove the crown of the tree, looking across it to the rooftops.
A Street room at dusk: a tall sash window with rain on the glass, low sandstone shopfronts and verandahs soft below, a linen curtain and a lamp lit by the bed.
Photographed: a Street room

Street 6 rooms

Six rooms behind the heaviest glass we could fit.

  1. The AwningFirst floor · Queen · The streetOver the awning, which takes the edge off the rain.
  2. The Lamp PostFirst floor · Queen · The streetLevel with the old lamp post, which comes on about when you draw the curtains.
  3. The Blue DoorSecond floor · Queen · The door across the streetFacing a blue door across the way that nobody seems to use.
  4. The Market RoofsSecond floor · King · The market’s roofsA long view of the market roofs, busy from before seven.
  5. The Rain ChainThird floor · Queen · The street and a rain chainThe rain chain outside sings in a shower. The glass keeps the rest out.
  6. The SashThird floor · Queen · A tall sash windowA tall sash, weighted to open a hand’s width and no further.
A Corner room with the lamps on: two tall windows meeting at the corner, one down a quiet lane, one over low sandstone roofs, a king bed in linen.
Photographed: a Corner room

Corner 4 rooms

Four rooms with two windows each.

  1. Two WindowsFirst floor · King · The street and the laneOne window on the street, one on the lane. Sleep on the lane side.
  2. The Long LightSecond floor · King · West and southThe late sun comes across the floor from two sides.
  3. Over the LaneThird floor · King · The quiet laneOver the quiet lane, lit by one wall lamp after dark.
  4. The Far CornerThird floor · King · Two windows over the rooftopsThe furthest room from the lift, and the most sky.
A room under the roofline at blue hour: a lamp lit on a writing table under a wide window, low sandstone roofs and a wide sky beyond, rain on the glass.
Photographed: a Roofline room

Roofline 4 rooms

Four rooms on the top floor, each with a writing table at the window.

  1. The WeathervaneTop floor · King · The roofs and a weathervaneThe weathervane outside tells you the wind before breakfast.
  2. The Chimney PotsTop floor · Queen · Old chimney potsA window full of old chimney pots, all shapes, none of them lit.
  3. The SkylightTop floor · Queen · The sky, through a skylightRain on the skylight, and a blind for when you want the dark.
  4. The Long TableTop floor · King · The city, over the tableA long table under the window, for letters or for spreading out a map.
A Street room at dusk: a tall sash window with rain on the glass, soft street light below, a linen curtain and a lamp lit by the bed.
Photographed: a Street room, first floor, on a wet evening

The quiet

Close the window.

Press play and you’ll hear the street under a Street room on a wet weeknight. Then close the window. The glass is doubled and the curtains are lined: with the window shut and the curtain drawn, you’ll hear the lift before you hear a car. If a room still isn’t quiet enough, tell the desk and we’ll move you to the courtyard side.

How loud the room is

the room, quiet two people talking the street, window open
Window open: the street, softly.
With the window open
Cars easing past, a bicycle bell, two people walking home, rain on the awning across the way.
Closed, curtain drawn
The lamp ticking as it warms, and the kettle if you’ve put it on.

The ledger

One stay, from the porter’s ledger.

The night porter keeps a ledger of small things. Here is one stay in it, a Thursday to a Friday, in his hand.

3.40 pm

Arrival

Bags taken at the door and upstairs before you are. The lift is right of the desk. Your key comes off the wall and onto the desk in front of you, and we walk you up the first time.

— R.

The wall behind the front desk: painted pigeonholes with a heavy brass key hanging under each, a brass bell and a coral lamp on the counter.

4.15 pm

The room

Lamps on, the latch shown, the kettle filled and the tea tin full. A prayer mat and a qibla card on the chair, because you asked. Towels are in the tall cupboard, not the bathroom.

— R.

A room under the roofline at blue hour: a lamp lit on a writing table under a wide window, low city roofs soft in the rain beyond.

7.30 pm

Dinner

The lamb, and the smoky black tea that goes with it. Ask for the window table if it’s free. The kitchen closes at half past nine, and there is always soup until then.

— R.

7.00 am

The morning

Breakfast from half past six: eggs on the market’s sourdough, and the figs while they last. If your flight is early, tell us the night before and we’ll pack it for the car.

— R.

Breakfast by the window downstairs: sourdough, eggs, figs and dates, a pot of tea and a jug of juice pressed that morning.

9.15 am

The walk

Out the door and right to the market; go early for the bread. Bags stay with us until your train. After dark, take the lane with the lamps. It’s the quiet way.

— R.

Downstairs

Downstairs, from half past six.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner in the room off the lobby, with the lamps on and tables by the tall windows. The card follows the market, so it changes a little every week. Open to everyone, not just guests.

Breakfast by the window downstairs: sourdough, eggs, figs and dates, a pot of tea and a jug of juice pressed that morning.

Breakfast 6.30 to 10

  • Eggs any way on market sourdough
  • Labneh, dates and honey with warm flatbread
  • Porridge with poached quince
  • Market fruit, cut to order

Lunch 12 to 2.30

  • Red lentil soup with lemon
  • Chicken, herb and freekeh salad
  • Cheese and tomato on grilled sourdough

Dinner 6 to 9.30

  • Lamb shoulder with chickpeas and preserved lemon
  • Grilled King George whiting with a green salad
  • Roast pumpkin with tahini and dukkah
  • Rice pudding with rosewater and pistachio

With every meal: tea by the pot, coffee made properly, juice pressed that morning.

This week’s cordial: lime and ginger.

The walk

Ask the desk for a map.

We’ll draw it while you wait: the way to the market that avoids the traffic, the lane that’s quiet after dark, and the stall with the bread worth going early for. It fits in a coat pocket, and it’s yours to keep.

abcde the marketusthe squarethe tramthe park where the city ends
A sketch from the desk, not to scale: from the hotel to the market, the square and the tram, with the quiet lane marked.

  1. The bread, second aisle in. Go early; the aisle smells of it by seven, and the good loaves are gone by ten.

  2. The fruit hall. Kindest in the last half hour of the day, when the stalls are clearing their tables.

  3. The quiet lane. Three lamps and no traffic. After dark, it’s the way back we’d take.

  4. The tram. Two corners past the square. We’ll mark which side for the way you’re going.

  5. The park where the city ends. A good loop before breakfast; about twenty minutes at an easy pace.

House notes

Things the desk gets asked.

We write the answers on hotel paper and leave them folded in the pigeonholes behind the desk. Take one down and open it.

  • Check-in and out

    Rooms from two, out by eleven. If you’re early, leave your bags and go to the market; the room will be ready when you’re back.

  • Your bags

    On the day you leave, we keep your bags behind the desk until your train or flight, and there’s a chair by the lamp if you want to wait.

  • The lift

    Right of the desk, big enough for two and their cases. It doesn’t chime after ten.

  • The desk at night

    Someone is here all night with the lamp on, whatever time you come in. Ring the bell if we’re in the back.

  • Quiet from ten

    There’s carpet on the stairs and felt under the doors, and we ask everyone to keep the corridors hushed.

  • Just ask

    Prayer mats and a qibla card on request, umbrellas by the door, and we’ll point you to parking nearby.

Ask the desk

Leave a note at the desk.

Tell us when you’d like to come and what sort of room suits, and the desk will write back with what’s free.

Sconce A note for the desk

Nights
Guests
Kind of room

The desk will confirm what’s free and what it costs.