Hotel V

Rooms

Hotel V's 12 guest rooms fan out around the patio courtyard and are ranked up on 3 floors. The Classic rooms are of smaller dimensions and have bathrooms with rain showers rather than tubs. We'd splash out and book a Superior room which, as well as a larger footprint, have their own wine coolers with a small selection of tempting coupages and various mineral waters. Our favourite Superior rooms were numbers 2, 6 and 12, which all have views, and room 10, which has a mezzanine chill-out area.

The Exclusive room is alone in having its own terrace with wraparound views of the old town: this room is top-of-the-league and would be the one to book if romance is part of the picture and you're feeling flush. It's possible to book the Exclusive in conjunction with a Superior, to create a Suite; enquire when booking.

The dark slate-grey tiles of Hotel V's public spaces are replaced in the bedrooms with ones of a lighter hue, which together with natural coloured stucco walls and chenille curtains in a soft tone of beige, provide an understated canvas for the darker decorative touches. There are antique Portuguese tables and writing desks of teak and rosewood, more of Laurent de Posson's black and white photographs (which are hung throughout the hotel) and eyecatching patterned fabrics (Osbourne & Little style) on the padded bedwalls.

Beds are of king or queensize dimensions (doubles or twins) and come dressed in fine Egyptian cotton with Paisley throws - expect to find yours neatly turned back when you get in from dinner - whilst soft lighting pushes the 'love-in' quotient up an extra notch. Other treats include underfloor heating in both bedroom and bathroom, flat-screen TV and DVD player as well as a choice of half a dozen films streamed in from Hotel V's server.

Bath and shower rooms are just as spoiling, many of them divided from the sleeping area by glass walls, which cleverly ups the light factor. Some rooms have double sinks, all have the swishest of sinks and taps, piles of snowy white towels, cotton bathrobes and a big bunch of Karma ayurvedic bath products.