The Place Firenze

The Place Firenze puts breakfast and the minibar in the room rate, and explains on its own site that a home would not charge its guests for every little extra. The rest of the house runs on the same idea. There is no reception desk, and guests are met with a drink or a coffee. It is a townhouse of twenty rooms on Piazza Santa Maria Novella, open since 2003 and renovated most recently by the architect Luigi Fragola. The ceilings are high and painted, and the modern furniture has been chosen sparingly enough to leave a Louis XV fireplace in charge. One of the Superiors has a staircase to its bathroom. The Duomo Penthouse runs to two levels and a balcony with a clear view of the cathedral.

Recommended for couples who want the middle of Florence and a house that knows its way round it. The Duomo is about 480 metres away and the Ponte Vecchio 600, and the hotel's team offers to go beyond the usual tourist round to the best tables. One of those is in the house. The Kitchen & The Bar, open all day, bakes its bread in the morning and rolls its own pasta, and lays the table with Ginori porcelain and Moleria Locchi crystal, with a view of Santa Maria Novella. The negroni is the drink to order, and there is a masterclass in it for anyone who would like to make the second one themselves. On the roof is an alcove whose view runs past Brunelleschi's dome to the hills that ring the city. The hotel offers it for romantic dinners and for proposals, and with that view behind it the first could easily turn into the second.