Arabian Deluxe

The bed stands under a tall scalloped arch with twisted plaster columns either side of it and a carved headboard between them, on a blue-and-gold geometric carpet that runs the length of the room. Mother-of-pearl inlaid tables sit at the bedside; a pierced brass lantern hangs over the sitting corner, where a sofa and an armchair face a low table; a writing desk stands against the wall. The bathroom is marble — a double vanity under a framed mirror with a lantern beside it, and a deep tub set into a stone surround under a stepped arch of banded stone.

The balcony is 8 square metres of the 51, and it looks inward over the clipped gardens and the waterways where the abras pass. This is the quiet side of the house. Take it if the view from the room matters less to you than the walk out of it. It takes 4 guests at most, of whom 3 may be adults, and the bed comes as a king or as twins if you ask when you book.