The website suggests unutterable chic. Yet, when I click on pictures, I find a grotty electric heater in one shot, snaking flex in another.

Brochure text reveals more about the owner, Wallace Shaw, than his gaff but this is an Alastair Sawday B&B, costing almost £100 (Dh538) a night, so it must be OK, mustn't it?

Fast-forward to the port of Leith. I'm standing outside the Assembly Rooms, now flats, pressing a bell which has Shaw's name cellotaped beside it. White-haired and pinstripe-trousered Shaw opens the door and takes my bag up flights of terrazzo stairs (how grand Scottish entrance halls are) to his apartment. The hallway is bare. Into the sitting room. My bedroom is opposite. Bedlinen could be more crisp. Ah — the heater — and too much furniture. It is a B&B circa 1980, except for the "en suite", a white pod housing separate shower and loo. Love it.

In the sitting room, Shaw fixes refreshments while I survey sofas, Chinese teapots, coffee tables, Italian lighting and paintings. Wouldn't less be more? The realisation is dawning, though, that the real reason for staying here is Shaw.

He, nearly 70, began life in Glasgow's East End. He attended Glasgow School of Art in the 1950s, designed for Pringle, then worked for Donna Karan in New York. He learnt Italian and moved to Spoleto, Umbria, running a B&B in a palazzo, where he held jazz concerts and exhibitions. Now he is back on home turf, keen to meet new folk while doing his bit for Leith's tourism and donating knitwear to the art school where his career began.

Shaw has a lifetime of stories to tell. The boutique-ing of B&B has passed the Arthouse by. Breakfast is on the continental side (great coffee, no cooking). Juice cartons are lined up while a juicer remains unused. It's a blast, though. We sit at Shaw's kitchen table, chatting. There are smarter outfits in Edinburgh charging a comparable rate but it's impossible to put a price on meeting Shaw.

Visit www.wallacesarthousescotland.com

Better bites

Wallace's Arthouse Scotland. Doubles £95 (Dh512) B&B, two nights minimum. Leith is teeming with good restaurants. I recommend Caf Fish and Fishers. Online advance return rail fares from London to Edinburgh with East Coast Trains from £26 (Dh140) standard class.

A day at the museum

Visit the Trinity House, a small museum dedicated to shipping, with fascinating paintings of old Leith and several portraits of admirals, masters and mariners, four of which are by Raeburn. Many other curious artefacts and models of ships are on show here. A good way to pass a morning.

A shopping trip

Georgian Antiques offers five floors of antiques stored in a former refreshments bond warehouse. Possibly the largest variety of antique furniture in Scotland.

A meal out

Fisher's Bistro is a seafood restaurant on the Leith waterfront that serves delicious fresh fish. It is housed in a former lighthouse and signal tower.

A walk

Stroll around the dock area of Leith, through the historic parts of Edinburgh's former port, where the old piers still have a feel of the 17th/18th century. Hear the cries of the seagulls. Watch the ducks and swans. Spend time touring the Royal Yacht Britannia. Alternatively, join the Water of Leith walkway alongside the river, which goes from Leith through the heart of old Edinburgh, passing by the Museum of Modern Art and the Dean Village.

Creative course

Take a course at the Leith Art School, run in a former Norwegian church in Edinburgh. It has short courses in painting, textiles, drawing and life classes. There are day and evening classes of a few hours and one- and two-day workshops.