Grand Hotel Continental, Siena
Editor's Pick
Siena
Italy 53100
Tel: 39 0577 56 011
reservation.ghc@royaldemeure.com
www.ghc.royaldemeure.com
Concierge.com's insider take:
Siena's only real luxury hotel sits right in the heart of the city, two minutes from Piazza del Campo. Its 51 individually decorated rooms mix old-world elegance with modern panache. Rich fabrics, antiques, and oil paintings raise the comfort level, while Internet access (though it's not free), pay-TV, and CD players in some rooms provide convenience. Several rooms on the second floor have vaulted frescoed ceilings, and the rooftop suite, the Altana, has wraparound views of Siena. Opened in 2002, the impeccably restored building—originally a Renaissance palazzo—includes a chic wine bar with eye-catching armchairs in a bright glassed-in courtyard on the ground floor, next door to which is a more traditionally elegant restaurant in a couple of Belle Époque dining rooms. Service is professional but can appear a little frosty compared with Tuscany's many hands-on, family-run establishments.