Hotel Palazzo Ravizza

Palazzo Ravizza stands within the walls of Siena on Pian dei Mantellini, according to the hotel about 400 metres from the cathedral and 500 metres from Piazza del Campo. The house has kept the appearance it acquired at the end of the 19th century. It became a guesthouse in the 1920s, after the sisters Elena and Giuditta Grottanelli de Santi had inherited the palace from their Ravizza cousins. According to the website, the same family runs it today.

Guests have included musicians, writers and art collectors, among them Helen Clay Frick, who donated the Steinway grand piano in the first-floor salon. Guests can use salons, a reading room, a bar, the limonaia and a garden with a view of the hills around Siena. The rooms facing the facade are the largest and show restored 19th-century wall paintings; the deluxe rooms of about 30 square metres look onto the garden.

Important for drivers: the hotel has its own car park, free for guests, but the number of spaces is limited and cannot be reserved. Access is permitted only via Porta San Marco, and the hotel advises against following the satnav. The house suits travellers who want to experience Siena on foot and use the city as a base for Chianti, the Crete Senesi and the Val d'Orcia.