Darbe Shazdeh

Painted tiles and ceiling murals mark out the rooms of Darb-e Shazdeh, a house built in the Qajar style at the edge of Shiraz's old town. Each of the nine rooms differs in colour and layout, from the soft pink of the Shazdeh Double Garden to the green walls of the Pahlavi Room. All look onto a shared courtyard with a water fountain, the shaded centre of the house and its main gathering point. It is a compact stay. The Mirror Room, on the first floor, holds original paintings and plaster decoration alongside mirrored panels; the Owrsi Suite, tucked under a palm tree on the second floor, has its own balcony and hand-painted tiles across two connecting rooms. Bathrooms are private throughout, and rooms carry flat-screen TVs, minibars and Wi-Fi as standard. Downstairs, the Shazdeh Café serves homemade lunches and regional small plates into the evening, and a garden and small art shop sit off the courtyard. You can walk from the hotel's door straight into Vakil Bazaar, with the Zand district and the Arg of Karimkhan close enough to reach on foot. Reception runs around the clock, and housekeeping is daily. The building itself does the talking: thick brick walls, high ceilings in the Qajari wing, and a fountain that keeps the afternoon heat at bay.