Two floors up, everything in cream and sand: a canopied king bed, a second king on the mezzanine, áo dài paintings on lime-washed walls.

2A is the quietest of the four — one floor above the street, with the whole studio kept to cream, sand and pale wood. A wooden king bed stands under a muslin canopy; a second king is up the pale stairs on the mezzanine, so four people sleep here without anyone taking a sofa.

The art is the reason to look up. A large painting of two women in áo dài hangs over the sofa, two wall lamps shaped like nón lá sit above the bed, and the lime-washed plaster holds the afternoon light for a long time before it goes.

In the corner by the mint-green French door there is a round table with two cane chairs — the place people end up eating breakfast rather than at the kitchen counter. The kitchen has everything for a real meal, and the washer and dryer are free, downstairs on the ground floor.