Palazzo Castiglioni Hotel Review, Lombardy

The six rooms overlook either the piazza or the internal garden and each one is completely different but they're all spacious and all convey a sense of history in keeping with the palazzo. Historic family heirlooms include much of the furniture, some ancient doors and large oil paintings. Several rooms have fireplaces, most have floorboards and high 18th-century coffered ceilings, which are decorated in the two-level Aquila room.

That could all make the décor sound rather heavy but it isn't thanks to the clever use of colour themes and fabrics, such as dusky pink, pale blue or cream and ruby red, once again different in each room. Some rooms have contemporary touches in the form of Flos lighting and Le Corbusier chairs; all have kettles and coffee machines. Bathrooms are contemporary, with good showers and storage space. While most rooms are open plan, the Celeste suite has a separate living area, convertible into a second bedroom, and two bathrooms. 

One room (Glicine) has a long narrow balcony, with a lovely canopy of wisteria, overlooking the internal garden, while the Torre suite has its own characterful tower-top terrace that has inspirational views over Mantua's rooftops and across to the three lakes that almost surround the city; there are stone benches, loungers in summer and even a shower (access to the terrace is by a narrow open-spiral staircase that's not for vertigo sufferers). The suite itself has a high barn-like ceiling and frescoed walls with windows in each; one whole wall is taken up by a rare 14th-century fresco of the Tree of Life populated by a curious collection of birds and animals. 

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