It may only be three star accommodation, but go for the best rooms or the Venetian suite in this shabby art deco chic Rome favourite. And don't forget your lover.
Telephone: + 39 (0)6 361 0841
Price: from EUR 230
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Consistently popular and desperately romantic despite its surprising three-star status, the Locarno delivers well to all budgets. There’s a distinct feeling of clandestine capers going on behind the wooden doors and illicit kisses in the perilous birdcage lift, a leftover from the building’s first incarnation as a five-star hotel in 1925.
Run with an iron rod by the matriarch Caterina Valente, the Locarno has 48 rooms in the older building, but for unrivalled, sumptuous romance get a suite next door, in the restructured Venetian patrician palazzo, which is more private and perfect for an amorous weekend.
There’s also a lovely sun-bleached roof terrace for tea, a chat or a sunbathe. Having accommodated everyone from impoverished artists (such as Michelangelo Pistoletto) to rich lovers, it’s no wonder this hotel gives the impression that it is harbouring a few secrets behind its Art Deco walls. Free bicycles are on offer for the brave.
