One trip to the Middle East remains etched in French interior designer Jean-Louis Deniot’s memory. Nearly 20 years ago, he was approached to design a boutique hotel in Damascus. “It was to be housed in two palaces – a Jewish one on one side and a Muslim one on the other,” he recalls. “Their architectural vocabulary was very similar, just the colours changed.” The entry hall features blue and white Syrian-inspired tiles alongside stripes of Bardiglio, Carrara and Blue Savoy marbles.