Hotel Palazzo Manfredi

All cities are unique, to a point, but no place offers a greater number of absolutely singular experiences than Rome. Palazzo Manfredi is as fine an example as any: this luxury hotel occupies a 16th-century villa which stands on the site of what used to be a training academy for gladiators — and, as befits the site’s original purpose, also boasts an unmatched front-row view of the Colosseum. We’ve seen monastery hotels, castle hotels and all the rest, but the day gladiators’ academies become a hot hotel trend, we’ll officially hang up our laptops.

While a lesser hotelier might festoon the walls with spears and shields, the Palazzo Manfredi’s proprietors stick with the sort of crisp contemporary elegance that carries the day in Rome’s smartest-looking small luxury hotels, in this case thanks to designer Maria Renata Fimiani. The fourteen rooms and two suites are full of subtly whimsical design details, as well as thoughtful comforts like Bulgari bath products and B&O home theatre systems. And in the best Roman style, while the accommodations are eminently private, there’s a social aspect as well — in this case the terrace-top Aroma bar and restaurant, where the good life is served up with an utterly unique Colosseum view.