Description: Curious what lies behind the high blank walls of Aleppo’s sidestreets? Try staying at Dar Halabia, one of only two hotels in the Old City, and a mere minute away from Souq Bab-Antakya (follow the signposts). A complex of traditional old buildings at the end of an alleyway has been renovated into a lovely little three-star hotel. The ground floor centres on a lovely shaded courtyard with a fountain, off which rooms are situated. The yard is decorated with old framed photographs of historic Aleppo, thick woven rugs, and tarnished brass gewgaws and provides a nice cool communal area in which to congregate, read, or just utilise the Wi-Fi. There is a water cooler just by the reception desk for filling up any drinks bottles you may have. More rooms are located up a steep flight of steps off a verandah. Breakfast (for which you pay extra) is served up here under a sun-dappled pergola – breads, cheese, fruit, eggs, juice, tea and coffee.

For around €45 a night Chris and I shared a twin room up on the first floor. A thick wooden door (with a hefty iron key) led into a smallish room with a chest of drawers, wardrobe, bedside table and two single beds covered with more bright roughly-woven kilims. Carpets hung on the thick stone walls. There was an en suite bathroom with shower and traditional Aleppine olive oil and laurel soaps (make sure they are kept out of the water after use, or they tend to disintegrate into a soapy mush).

Its main plus point would be its enviable location right inside the heart of the souq (though this is not ideal for those with heavy luggage – you will have to tote it all the way from Bab Antakya yourself, whilst casting nervous eyes at the worryingly over-inquisitive local children). A second would be the chance to see inside a traditional 17th century courtyard house, sympathetically and charmingly renovated. And a third would be the friendly and helpful staff. As an example of the welcome I received at Dar Halabia I would like to share the following anecdote. I was leaving my room at dusk on the first day of Ramadan, and two of the guys who ran the placed gestured for me to come over to join them. On the verandah they had set up a table which groaned under a full buffet of food and drink as they broke their Ramadan fast. I was invited to join them. The famous Arabic hospitality was coming into play – it was obvious that they considered it lucky to have a stranger share in breaking fast with them as a guest. It is hard to refuse genuine hospitality like this, even when you have arranged to meet up with other people for dinner. So I stopped for a brief chat, a couple of drinks, and a bit of roast chicken and bread before I made my excuses. Compared to them I would be considered rich, but they wanted to share their food with me.

The only negative I feel I should mention is the fact that my room mate was attacked by bed bugs here. I have stayed in plenty of places much less salubrious than here and never had any problems, but poor Chris’s back was speckled with tracks of bite marks when he awoke in the morning. A quick investigation and we managed to capture a couple of the blood-bloated little blighters and presented them to reception in a glass to rather blank expressions. Thankfully this was our last night there, and I suppose any place can have an off day, but this has injected a certain amount of caution into my thoughts of what – otherwise – was a lovely little nook in the souq.
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