Amyth Hotel-Nicosia

The Amyth Boutique Hotel is a small establishment in the heart of the old city of Nicosia. The narrow, disorientating weave of streets that create a network within the Venetian walls, with the imposing Mosque, the hammam, the cathedral of St John’s, the Pancyprian Gymnasium, the impressive Hadjigiorgakis Cornesios residence, the Archbishopric, the small museums, and many other anonymous jewels from eras long gone are the vocabulary that it taps into. It is in itself a noteworthy example of architecture with its classical proportions, the high, shuttered windows, the strong rhythm, the two ‘Sachnisi’ features that project into the streetscape. Internally, one of the main features of the building is the curved staircase that climbs to the upper levels at the rear. It provides a wonderful vertical element that binds the hotel’s levels, with their high, painted ceilings, the ornate detail pitched just right. There is an overwhelming sense of serenity about the place. A calm that transcends and which the recent renovation has held on to very comfortably. Colours are in subdued tones, in natural hues. They drift. They rest easy. Materials and furnishings are simple but elegantly opulent. They do not claim the space; they converse with it. A modern extension that houses the kitchens, the mechanical aspects of modern life, the contemporary facilities, has been added. It is an element with the contemporary language of exposed concrete and crisp geometries. The Amyth provides the facilities and the standards which one might expect of such an establishment but, significantly, it drinks deep of history, it is described by tranquillity, it has a gentle presence and a beautiful way about life.