Once the summertime day-trippers have left, Capri becomes a different place: it has 'charm, beauty, many fabulous sights'.

By the Uffizi Gallery, Elisabetta Matucci's B&B is a 15th-century building in a little pedestrianised street (reached under an ancient arch) off the Piazza della Signoria.

'Near Piazza Navona and within walking distance of all the sights (we didn't use a taxi the whole time we were in Rome), this centrally located hotel is on a quiet little street and I could sleep at night with my window open,' writes a visitor.

Set in the quiet Cannaregio district, this 16th-century Baroque palace, formerly an aristocratic family home, boasts gorgeous, individually-decorated rooms and suites with frescoed ceilings, 18th-century antique furniture, handmade silk wallpaper and Murano chandeliers.

On the north side of the Borghese Gardens, this luxury hotel is decorated in Art Deco style, with jewel tones, period details and floor-length curtains.

In a quietish street near the Piazza del Popolo, this Art Deco hotel opened in 1925 and later increased its size by extending into an adjacent building.

A former haunt of English noblemen, this B&B is a conversion of two pink colonial-style villas once owned by Sir Daniel Hanbury.

The location of this stylish new hotel (it opened in 2015) couldn't be bettered – it's 100m from Florence Cathedral and in easy walking distance of the city's major sights.

A former watchtower for the Knights of Malta, dating back to the 15th century, has been turned into this five-star deluxe resort.

This sumptuous and elegant hotel is located on Via Veneto, the street that formed the backdrop to Fellini's classic movie “La Dolce Vita”, and close to the Piazza di Spagna, Villa Borghese and Via Condotti.

In a small town in the foothills of the Dolomites (excellent for visiting the Palladian villas) stands this 'wonderful' hotel.

'Quite simply, one of the best small hotels we have stayed in.'

This hotel, set in an art deco villa on Amalfi drive, offers a genteel, old-fashioned charm, and has been in the same family since it opened as a hotel with six rooms in 1904.

'One of the best hotels (for the price) that we have stayed in,' says a visitor. The Sagnotti family's palazzo,a hotel for over 150 years, is within walking distance of most of the main attractions.

Suite Dellavite is not a hotel, but instead a centrally-located collection of seven different studio apartments, most of which are spacious and feature kitchenettes with fridges.

Hotel Casci isn't fancy, but considering the location (150m from Florence Cathedral) the rates are very reasonable and the owners, the Lombardi family, pride themselves on being some of the friendliest hoteliers in town.

'A real bargain for Rome', 'superbly located', this old-established B&B hotel is just off Via Veneto, not far from the Borghese Gardens.

In a remote setting on an 'amazing cliffside', this resort complex includes a hotel and a 'fishermen's village' (apartments), in a large botanical park on the coast between Naples and Rome.

On the edge of this Dolomite resort (Wolkenstein in Gröden in German) at the foot of the impressive Sella massif, this 'superb hotel', renovated last in 2013, is run by its owner, Carlo Senoner (a skiing world champion at Portillo, Chile, 1966), with his wife, son and daughter.

Designed by renowned architect Matteo Thun, Hotel Pergola Residence is set on a hill 3 km from the ski and nature resort of Merano, but hiking trails depart staight from the hotel too.

The Sersale family's summer home was turned into this spectacular hotel in 1951, and is still run by descendants of the original brothers.

High above the Isarco valley between Bressanone and Bolzano, this hamlet consists of le tre chiese, three curious little attached medieval churches and this unspoilt 14th-century chalet, now a modest hotel.

You can see the remains of Pompey's theatre (55BC) in the breakfast room/bar of this small hotel run by the Cavarocchi-Mignoni family.

A 17th-century villa which was the Russian consulate when Venice was an independent republic, this well-known pensione has a 'super position' by a side canal, near the Grand Canal at the Accademia bridge.

Set 1,100m above sea level and 55 yards from ski lifts, this hotel was described by a visitor as 'a delightful, family-run hotel with splendid service. It's a nice old Alpine-style building in a beautiful, peaceful setting.

'We cannot think of a nicer, better-run seaside hotel,' says a devotee of this large hotel, built on the site of a villa once owned by the aristocratic Dogi family.

Set in a 15th-century stone manor house on a hillside ten minutes' drive above Lake Garda and offering 'spectacular views of the lake', this hotel prizes tranquillity above all else – even eschewing the hum of air-conditoning for antique fans and minibars for a civilized self-service bar.

'One of the attractions of this gem,' write its nominators, 'is its location on a junction of canals just behind the Doge's Palace.'

A former monastery dating from the 17th century, this luxury boutique hotel has been sympathetically restored by owner Bianca Sharma; features such as vaulted celings and wooden shutters on the windows remain, but rooms are fully-furnished with antiques hand-picked by Bianca herself.

In this 'old-fashioned summer resort' on the dramatic north Tyrrhenian coast, this 18th-century 'Liberty-style' building stands in lush grounds.