Run for many years as a hotel by the Barbaro family, this former medieval convent, founded by St Francis of Assisi in 1222, has long been popular with Guide readers.

Much loved by Guide readers, Rodolfo Gattai’s B&B is in ‘one of Florence’s loveliest squares’, ‘easily reached from all directions.'

‘Excellently located’, this ‘beautifully kept’ B&B hotel has been run for many years by its owners, the Bechi family. 

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

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. 

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. 

‘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.

The highlight of this 11th-century restored palace is the infinity pool - heated to a warm temperature year-round, and located at the highest point in Ravello, it has incredible views of the Amalfi coast. 

With ‘stunning views’ over Florence and the surrounding hills, this family friendly hotel ‘couldn’t be faulted’ by a visitor.

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.

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.

Ever-popular, Simone Simoni's 'blissfully quiet' pensione in a residential area on a hilltop just north-west of Florence represents 'amazing value', say its devotees.

Liked for its welcome, ‘quietly efficient staff’ and ‘excellent value for money’, this chalet-style hotel  is in a ‘very beautiful’ skiing and summer resort in the South Tyrol nature reserve, at the foot of the Dolomites. 

Built in 1808 by the King of Naples (who was married to Napoleon's sister) as a summer residence, this townhouse hotel is located in the centre of Positano.

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

The proud boast of this opulent hotel is that it has a hundred windows facing the lagoon.

Overlooking the Arno, between the Ponte Vecchio and the Uffizi, this ‘very peaceful’ B&B hotel has ‘marvellous views of the duomo’.

In the city centre, this Renaissance palace is now a ‘beautiful and gracious’ hotel with ‘stunning’ lounges filled with antiques and art treasures, and neo-classical drawings and sculpture by Giovanni Duprè, an ancestor of the present owners.

‘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.

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

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. 

‘Well located’, at the foot of Via Veneto, this historic building is within easy walking distance of the sights of ancient Rome, ‘and the classy shopping streets’.

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

In a relatively quiet part of the city, by the Accademia, this 16th-century palazzo is part of the Design Hotels group.