I settled into a good-sized second-floor room (which had comfy quilts on an antique queen-size bed and a big whirlpool) just before it began to rain.
Antique skylights, Queen Anne chairs and a sparkling chandelier add notes of serious intention.
There are exhibitions of azaleas and solar systems, antique clocks and Queen Elizabeth I's bible, Houdini's magic tricks and Turkish military history, Jane Austen and Jane Jacobs.
The Queen West Antique Centre (1605 Queen Street West) is much groovier than it sounds, a mix of flea market, antique shop and Aladdin's Cave, while Red Indian Art Deco (536 Queen Street West) has an eclectic mix of telephones, lamps, kitchenware and pinball machines - truly mind-boggling.
Nine rooms furnished with queen beds, antiques and collectibles, all with cable television and private bath.
The closer you look, the more peculiar it gets: there's an antique witch wearing a hat, Queen Mab and entourage, two women with exaggerated calves and strangely pointed breasts.
An antiques shop find of a Queen Anne revival mirror gave the Fiells the idea of restoring the room to an approximation of its original opulence.
Antiques Roadshow Detectives: The Medway Queen was broadcast on BBC Two on Monday 20 April, and is available to watch on the BBC iPlayer.
In part, of course, the antique technology is a façade, like the Queen Anne frontage on some of the most modern legal chambers.
Most bedrooms have beamed ceilings, fireplaces and queen or king beds with antique bedposts.
