Fodor's Expert Review The Malabar House

Luxurious but homey, this early-18th-century Dutch villa once housed European traders and bankers. A dramatic and very tempting swimming pool, garnished with fallen frangipani, sits in the courtyard garden. Rooms in this delightful hotel are a mixture of regional-traditional and contemporary style and a mismatch of colors: the blue-and-red walls are offset by antique wooden furnishings. Somehow, the curious combinations of elements work.