The first boutique hotel in Damascus, in a 17th-century courtyard house near Bab Touma. Eight rooms, orange trees, and a door you will walk past.
Beit al-Mamlouka was the first boutique hotel in Damascus, and it is the one that started the idea that a Damascene courtyard house could be something other than a private home or a ruin. It opened in 2005, in a 17th-century house in the Christian quarter near Bab Touma, and it changed how visitors stayed in the Old City.
This is the standard Damascene move: nothing on the outside, everything on the inside.
The entrance gives nothing away: a wooden door in a high wall, down lanes narrow enough that first-time guests routinely walk past it. Inside is a courtyard with a fountain and bitter orange trees, an iwan open to the sky, and eight rooms arranged around it.
The structure dates to the 17th century, with original features from the 18th: painted panels, decorative motifs, and an arched passage reported to date from the middle of the 16th century. One suite has its own fountain cut in the shape of a rose, and a Christian fresco on the ceiling said to be around 230 years old. The old stable has become the bar, breakfast room and gallery.
Five bedrooms open onto the courtyard and three are upstairs, with terraces and private patios. Each is named after a figure from Arab or Islamic history, among them Ibn Rushd and Baybars, and furnished with Syrian craft work: brocade curtains, Damascene quilts, local woodwork.
Small, quiet and central. The Umayyad Mosque and Straight Street are a walk away through the lanes, and the restaurants of Bab Touma are closer still. The courtyard is the point: breakfast under the orange trees, and the particular silence of a Damascene house with the city going on outside its walls.
It is not a large hotel and does not pretend to be. Eight rooms means it fills, and it means the staff know who you are by the second morning, which is most of why people return.
Opened by May Mamarbachi, who has since sold it, the hotel reached the Conde Nast Traveller Hot List in 2006 and the Sunday Times Top 100 Hotels in 2008, and it has been written up by the Telegraph and the Guardian among others. It remains one of the most consistently well reviewed places to stay in Damascus.
The things that come up repeatedly in accounts of staying here.
A fountain, bitter orange trees and an iwan open to the sky. Breakfast is served here, and it is the reason most guests remember the place.
A plain wooden door in a high wall, down lanes that defeat most first-time arrivals. Have the address in Arabic and let a driver or guide find it.
Each named after a figure from Arab or Islamic history, including Ibn Rushd and Baybars, and decorated differently in traditional Syrian style.
Painted panels and decorative motifs survive from the 18th century, with an arched passage reported to date from the mid-16th.
The old bayke, the stable, now serves as bar, breakfast room and gallery, which is a typically Damascene piece of reuse.
The Christian quarter near Bab Touma: restaurants on the doorstep, the Umayyad Mosque and Straight Street on foot.
Book directly with the property, or through the licensed Syrian operator arranging your trip. International booking platforms do not reliably cover Syria, and payment inside the country is in cash. Confirm the rate, what it includes and the cancellation terms in writing before you travel.
The house dates to the 17th century, with original decorative features from the 18th and an arched passage reported to be from the middle of the 16th. It opened as a hotel in 2005.
Eight. Five open onto the central courtyard and three are on the upper floor, with terraces and private patios. Each is named after a figure from Arab or Islamic history.
In the Christian quarter of the Old City, near Bab Touma, down the narrow lanes off Qaimariyya. The entrance is an unmarked wooden door, so arrive with a driver or guide the first time.
Published reviews indicate it has been operating and receiving guests. We have not visited, so confirm current availability and condition directly with the property before you book anything.
International booking platforms do not reliably cover Syria. Book directly with the hotel or through the licensed Syrian operator handling your trip, and expect to settle in cash.