It is always a bit of a gamble booking hotels in places you have never visited before. I flick from booking.com to trip advisor to google earth to try and get a feel for a place and still you can be caught out. The capital hotel tirana seemed to have conflicting views from clients who bothered to review it but the combination of city centre and private parking swung it.

The car has been driven away to an underground car park somewhere opposite for the huge fee of 3 euros a day and we are almost smack in the centre of town. After the rather parochial decor of our last three ‘apartments’ (rooms!) the cream and coffee colour scheme with touches of forest green/khaki woodwork is calming and comfortable.

Even the shovelling and occasional banging of the restoration work going on in the building next door makes a welcome change from three lots of canned music and the clatter of cutlery in kotor. The bathroom is very chic ; square wash basin, wet room shower. A real haven away from the traffic and car horns of the city. And a huge surprise given what we had seen of albania on the journey here!