Portrait Roma

The flagship Ferragamo store at the foot of the Spanish Steps would already be something of a holy place, if you’re into that sort of thing. Less well known, but possibly more exciting, is what’s upstairs, in the top floors of this 19th-century townhouse: the Portrait Roma, the newest in a string of chic city boutique hotels by Lungarno, the Ferragamo family’s hospitality concern.

As you’d expect from that kind of pedigree, the Portrait Roma have style to spare. The designer is the same Michele Bonan who’s responsible for the rest of the Lungarno Collection hotels, and he’s in fine form here, turning out interiors that are elegant, understated, and above all richer than rich, from the silk curtains to the elevator, lined not just in leather but in ultra-luxe boarskin leather.

Simpler pleasures abound as well — many rooms come with petite balconies overlooking the action on the streets below, and the hotel’s finest detail has to be the rooftop lounge, serving cocktails by the fireplace with a view of the Spanish Steps. You can’t stay on this world-famous shopper’s boulevard without being prepared to drop some cash, but if money is truly no object then try the penthouse, with its own kitchen, sauna, and private terrace — there’s possibly no more princely lodging in all of Rome.