ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA HOTEL, BATMAN

The Ancient Mesopotamia Hotel is an astonishingly good addition to Batman's hotel stock. You can hardly miss it on busy Diyarbakır Caddesi since it has a huge carving of an ancient Mesopotamian running down its facade.

Inside the public areas have a slightly neo-Ottoman kitsch feel but the bedrooms are far more stylishly discreet, designed in calm brown, cream and white colours and with the latest in mod cons. My room had a vast sprawl of a bed, with armchairs and a table by the small balcony (looking onto the neighbours' balcony!) as well as a three-piece suite in a curving window to one side. 

The wall-mounted TV offered AlJazeera, the air-con worked well and there was that great extra, a kettle with tea waiting for guests. 

The bathroom was on the small side compared with the bedroom but was also lovely to look at and featured a large showerhead as well as a smaller one. 

Breakfast in the first-floor dining room was nothing short of splendid. You could even have an omelette cooked in front of you.

The basement houses a small spa with exercise machines, a salt room, an incense-steam room and a small pool.

There's even a ramp to enable wheelchair-users to access the hotel. 

Thumbs up: Beautifully designed modern rooms, tea-making facilities, disabled ramp access

Thumbs down: Views from balconies and windows can't be that great because Batman itself is a concrete jungle

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Tel: 0488-212 2434