Mine didn’t. A faint mustiness lingered in the room, my throat felt dry by dawn, and the air seemed heavier than it should. I wanted an easy tweak, not a renovation. So I tried something odd but cheap: a small bowl of salt by the bed.
The first night I set it down, the bowl made a tiny porcelain click on my bedside table. Outside, buses sighed along the high street. My room held that familiar London damp after a rainy day, the kind you only notice when you switch off the






