Amyth of Nicosia – a 19th-century villa inside the Venetian walls

Inside the Venetian walls of Nicosia, on Patriarchou Grigoriou Street in the Old Town, a 19th-century villa has become the smallest hotel in the MICHELIN Guide's Cyprus selection. Amyth of Nicosia has ten rooms and suites and One MICHELIN Key, and it has been restored with a light hand: the original frescoes and painted mosaics are still in place, the old stone walls have been whitewashed rather than rebuilt, and the courtyard at its centre is planted with olive trees. It is run by Thanos Hotels & Resorts, the Cypriot group behind Anassa, Almyra and Annabelle on the island's west coast, and it is a member of Design Hotels. For travellers who know Cyprus mainly as a beach island, it makes a quiet, persuasive case for the capital – a city of museums, Byzantine churches and craft workshops that is best explored on foot from a front door inside the walls.

01The house

The restoration was carried out by Eraclis Papachristou Architects, with interiors by the designer Maria Neophytou. The MICHELIN inspectors single out what survived: decorative frescoes and painted mosaics, ceilings in pistachio and periwinkle in some of the suites, and whitewashed stone throughout. The hotel's own fact sheet lists a library, a fireplace, a panoramic terrace and a leafy courtyard – the scale of a large family house rather than a hotel.

Art is part of the fabric. The collection, chosen from Cypriot makers, emerging names and international artists, runs from textile to sculpture and from cyanotype to oil on wood, and hangs in the rooms, on the staircase and in the dining areas. Among the names are the Cypriot textile designer Teresa Georgallis, the design group Pelekis, the artist and educator Anna Thomaidou and the British photographer Alistair Taylor-Young. The rooms themselves take the names of the island's ancient cities – Amathus, Curion, Kition, Paphos and Salamis.

02Rooms and suites

There are five categories. Cute & Luxe, at 17 square metres with a city view, is the entry point; Grande & Luxe rooms measure 25 square metres and look over the Old Town and the courtyard, and the same room comes with a 17-square-metre terrace in the Grande & Luxe with Terrace. The Luxe & Sweet One Bedroom Suite has 38 square metres and windows on two sides, while the Amyth Two Bedroom Suite with Terrace – 59 square metres inside and 48 outside, for up to four guests – looks across the city skyline.

Insider tip

No on-site spa; day access to 360 Nicosia Wellness Center; dogs welcome in most rooms.

Every room has a king-size bed, a marble bathroom with bathrobes and slippers, an espresso machine, a smart TV and a minibar, with welcome fruit and wine on arrival and a turndown service in the evening. Room service runs from 7am to 10.30pm. The terrace rooms are the ones to ask for: the MICHELIN Guide notes that their private terraces look out over the city's terracotta rooftops.

03Where to eat

Amyth Kouzina is the hotel's restaurant, a Cypriot kitchen with a Mediterranean turn that uses organic, locally sourced produce; the MICHELIN Guide notes that it buys from the market every day. Breakfast is served from 7am to 12.30pm – filo pastries and scrambled eggs with local cheese, according to the inspectors – and the grill, small plates and desserts follow from 12.30pm to 10.30pm. Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free dishes are part of the menu rather than an afterthought.

There are two settings to choose between: a table indoors by the fire, or one outside in the courtyard, under the olive trees.

04The bar

Amyth Bar works with Cypriot ingredients. The inspectors mention a Negroni made with cherry, ouzo and lime alongside lighter house drinks, and the evening tends to drift out onto the olive-tree terrace with a glass of island wine. The bar and restaurant can also be taken over for parties, launches and weddings of up to 100 guests.

05Wellness

There is no spa, gym or pool in the villa itself, and the hotel says so plainly. Instead, guests can use the 360 Nicosia Wellness Center on Makarios III Avenue for €30 a day, with a gym, sauna, steam bath and a double-height pool with a sun deck on the tenth floor. Personal training costs €49 an hour, in the room, in a nearby park or at 360, and an in-room basket with a mat, bands and light dumbbells can be ordered on request.

06The neighbourhood

The hotel stands a few steps from the Famagusta Gate, Eleftheria Square and the Byzantine Museum. According to Visit Cyprus, the walls that ring the old city were built by the Venetians in the 16th century, with eleven heart-shaped bastions and a moat 80 metres wide; the Famagusta Gate, designed by the engineer Giulio Savorgnano in 1567, is the largest of the three entrances and now houses the Nicosia Municipal Multicultural Centre.

The hotel's own suggestions are a good map of the city: the Cyprus Museum, the island's largest archaeological museum; the craft shops of Onasagorou Street; the Hammam Omeriye; and chamber music at The Shoe Factory, a converted industrial building. Larnaca Airport is around 50 kilometres away, about 45 minutes by car.

07Making the most of a stay

Book one of the walks with an archaeologist and art historian, which the MICHELIN Guide describes as a way into the city's many historical layers. Before leaving, look into the Amyth Store, curated by the Cypriot artist and art theorist Savvas Christodoulides, with ceramics, jewellery, design objects and prints by artists connected to Cyprus and the Mediterranean. Dogs up to 15 kilograms are welcome in every category except Cute & Luxe.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.