Il Guelfo Bianco

Description:

• Once you enter this refined hotel you'll forget it's on busy Via Cavour. Its windows are triple-paned, blocking out nearly all traffic noise, and many rooms overlook quiet courtyards and gardens out back. Once upon a time it was a great value, for providing excellent service and luxury rooms at low prices for a board-rated three-star hotel, but lately the rates have risen toward the level of their surroundings. (Though prices for a triple are still a bargain.) Decor is pretty, featuring marble-topped desks, antique-style furnishings, modern art, and painted tile work in the large new bathrooms. The ceilings faithfully reproduce the beam and terra-cotta look this 15th-century palazzo once had. Some rooms have retained such 17th-century features as frescoed or painted wood ceilings, carved wooden doorways, and the occasional parquet floor. Superior rooms are larger than executive ones (and can be made easily into triples), while "de luxe" rooms are larger still with a semi-separate sitting area -- think junior suite. The friendly staff is full of advice, and they've installed a new bar and reading room on the ground floor.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2010