In bustling, beautiful Siena, step straight in from a quiet cobbled street to marble floors, frescoed walls, fine antiques and wonderful paintings. A first-floor sitting room gleams with leather sofas and vases of fresh flowers, there are striped cloths on the tables where copious breakfasts are had, the terrace looks over rooftops to the Duomo: an incomparable, dazzling, picture-postcard cityscape. This building, which dates from the 16th century, has its own peculiar architecture. One bedroom has a private terrace and that view, another a window onto the view from its bed; all are generously sumptuous with monogrammed sheets, taffeta curtains, soft creams and pale lilacs, buckets of smellies and big-mirrored bathrooms; totally pampering. The charming owners live upstairs and are unobtrusively present. It’s a stroll to restaurants, shops, street life and the great sights. Then back for a nightcap from the honesty bar in the candlelit salone as you watch the twinkling lights of the city below. Honeymooners will find it irresistible, architecture buffs will swoon, those with children will prefer somewhere a touch more robust.
