Review

Fluorescent Venetian chandeliers, platinum-sheen bathroom tiles, hydro massage showers, and a corridor that sparkles at night will delight and revive guests after a hard day pounding the streets of the Eternal city. The style is modern – flat screen TVs, Wifi – but elegant, with polished walnut bedsteads.

There is also a careful attention to detail, with all the mod cons and good-sized rooms that you would expect of a pricier hotel. Noise from one of Rome's busiest thoroughfares, Via Cavour, is blocked out by aeroplane strength glass so there is no danger of sleepless nights despite the plum location.

Breakfast, in staunch Roman fashion, is a non-event with machine-brewed coffee and a plastic-wrapped croissant. Gianluca and Consuela only speak limited English, but run the place with charm and enthusiasm. They own two other hotels nearby, Relais La Maison – notable for the giant photographs taken from the archives at Rome's Cinecittà film studios that line the walls - and Imperial Inn.