Livadhiotis City Hotel

This is a surprisingly stylish small, family-owned hotel in the heart of Larnaca’s Laiki Geitonia (traditional quarter), just a few steps from the waterfront. Larnaca is Cyprus’s commercial capital, and as tourism goes it isn’t wildly attractive, but in recent years this part of town has begun a small-scale renaissance, with some attractive bars, restaurants and cafés and a handful of sights worth seeing. Most of the sights (like the nearby fortress, which now houses a museum) date from the era of the Venetian empire, and the long seaside esplanade is not unattractive. You wouldn’t want to spend much time in Larnaca, but it has the island’s main airport, so this well-designed and well-run hotel – only 10 minutes from the terminal – is a good choice if your inbound flight arrives late at night or you have to leave at the crack of dawn. There’s a pleasant inside/outside bar-restaurant, and plenty more places to eat and drink nearby. All 55 rooms are stylishly decorated and well equipped, but this is really a prettied-up no-frills stopover, not a luxury cocoon.