Relais Orso

Every modern intervention, however, is balanced by some carefully preserved element from the house’s past. Central glass-walled showers are built into the living rooms, right up against the original brick. The rest of the furniture is sleek and unobtrusive, leaving plenty of blond-timbered floor space exposed. For most guests it’s a stylish and quite comfortable pied-à-terre, but for those in need of a bit of old-fashioned grand-hotel luxury, the fourth-floor suite comes with a terrace and an outdoor Jacuzzi — a rare find among hotels of this size.

The public areas work with urban space constraints in fairly ingenious ways — a roof deck makes the most of the hotel’s location, offering panoramic views beneath a retractable canopy, so open-air cocktails can be sipped on clear nights. And the restaurant, Vicolo 88, pairs traditional Mediterranean dishes with wines that come straight from the cellar of the townhouse.