Casa Montani

On the great European trains, there are only a handful of imperial suites; on an airplane, there’s only one first-class cabin. But in a great cities, there’s more than one kind of luxury to choose from. In Rome, for instance, there are the grand dames, offering a classic hotel experience — and then there are a range of small hotels and guesthouses, upscale and impeccably run, that give the modern traveler a taste of what it might be like to actually live in the Eternal City. Casa Montani is one of the latter.

It’s small, all right, with just nine rooms: the hotel occupies a space that was once a lavish apartment in a 19th-century palazzo just off Piazza del Popolo. Five rooms, and the owners have spared nothing to make them special. It’s elegant but cozy, as if you were staying with well-heeled Roman friends. But you won’t find family heirlooms around here. The amenities are equal to what you’d find at any of the city’s famous old hotels: furnishings by Chelini, sheets by Frette, silk quilts by Tebro, bathrooms lined with slate brought in from Liguria, high-end bath products, lacquered desks and parquet floors, original artwork by a Sicilian painter. One suite offers views of the famed Porta del Popolo and the bell towers of Trinità dei Monti; the rest look out over rooftops and courtyards.

But the views aren’t the point. The local character is. The Spanish Steps are just a short walk away, as is the Via del Corso shopping promenade — and half of Rome itself. Welcome to the boutique B&B: in Rome and other world capitals, it’s giving the classic landmark hotel a run for its (old) money.