Casa Howard Guesthouses Guide Books Reviews
Guidebook: Chic Retreats
Year: 2007-2008
Guest house: Casa Howard Rome & Florence Guesthouses
Review: "Simply Chic - Casa Howard, Rome. Casa Howard is a hidden gem right in the centre of Rome close to the Spanish steps. Exclusive and fashionable with 5 stylish bedrooms it is neither a hotel or a guesthouse, more like an elegant private residence full of family antiques and paintings. Located in the shopping area (Gucci and Prada only a few minutes away), in a beautiful historic building, Casa Howard provides the charm of a private house with the standard of personal service you would expect from a 5 star hotel. Every room features parquet floors, beamed ceilings, satellite TV, tea making facilities, air-conditioning, Ginori china and complimentary WIFI access in each guest room. Casa Howard, Florence. In November 2004 the newest Casa Howard opened in Florence with 11 rooms and 2 suites. The newest guest house (not a hotel) continues the formula of location, privacy, personal service, high comfort, excellent value. Casa Howard Florence is on 3 floors of a magnificent Palazzo, close to the train station and in an elegant area of the city. The famous ‘Officina dei profumi di Santa Maria Novella’ is next door and provides the guest house exclusively with it’s world famous toiletries. Many of the rooms have working fireplaces and it is possible to combine some of the rooms to create a large private suite. A Turkish bath, a library bedroom and a winter garden all contribute to ensure a comfortable stay for the most demanding guests. There is a room for families with climbing wall and a Walt Disney video library. Small dogs are welcome."
Year: 2007-2008
Guest house: Casa Howard Rome & Florence Guesthouses
Review: "Simply Chic - Casa Howard, Rome. Casa Howard is a hidden gem right in the centre of Rome close to the Spanish steps. Exclusive and fashionable with 5 stylish bedrooms it is neither a hotel or a guesthouse, more like an elegant private residence full of family antiques and paintings. Located in the shopping area (Gucci and Prada only a few minutes away), in a beautiful historic building, Casa Howard provides the charm of a private house with the standard of personal service you would expect from a 5 star hotel. Every room features parquet floors, beamed ceilings, satellite TV, tea making facilities, air-conditioning, Ginori china and complimentary WIFI access in each guest room. Casa Howard, Florence. In November 2004 the newest Casa Howard opened in Florence with 11 rooms and 2 suites. The newest guest house (not a hotel) continues the formula of location, privacy, personal service, high comfort, excellent value. Casa Howard Florence is on 3 floors of a magnificent Palazzo, close to the train station and in an elegant area of the city. The famous ‘Officina dei profumi di Santa Maria Novella’ is next door and provides the guest house exclusively with it’s world famous toiletries. Many of the rooms have working fireplaces and it is possible to combine some of the rooms to create a large private suite. A Turkish bath, a library bedroom and a winter garden all contribute to ensure a comfortable stay for the most demanding guests. There is a room for families with climbing wall and a Walt Disney video library. Small dogs are welcome."
Guidebook: Conde Nast Johansens
Year: 2007
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Florence Guest House
Review: "The homely Casa Howard is an intimate and elegant mansion within walking distance of the Uffizi, the Duomo and Via Tornabuoni. The themed guest rooms, uncluding two suites, and 1 small apartment, creatively mix antique furnishings with modern style and are adorned with special touches such as fresh flowers and family portraits. Breakfast includes homemade jams and honey, whilst dinner reservations can be arranged by the helpful housekeepers. The house has a large Turkish hammam."
Year: 2007
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Florence Guest House
Review: "The homely Casa Howard is an intimate and elegant mansion within walking distance of the Uffizi, the Duomo and Via Tornabuoni. The themed guest rooms, uncluding two suites, and 1 small apartment, creatively mix antique furnishings with modern style and are adorned with special touches such as fresh flowers and family portraits. Breakfast includes homemade jams and honey, whilst dinner reservations can be arranged by the helpful housekeepers. The house has a large Turkish hammam."
Guidebook: Elle Décor
Year: 2005
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome Guest House
Review: "Cinque Stanze con l'atmosfera di une casa privata a pochi metri dalla scalinata di piazza di Spagna, altre cinque non poco lontane, a qualche minuto da via Veneto, sempre in palazzi strorici e arredate con gusto da famosi interior designer. Rappresentano l'evoluzione del B&B, con tanta privacy ma servizi e qualità da alberghi a cinque stelle, come giornali in camera con la prima colazione, autista all'aeroporto, parrucchiere. Le guest house hanno il bagno turco, pavimenti in parquet, marmo o resine, porcellane Ginori, TV sat anche LCD, aria condizionata, fiori freschi, colori e tessuti raffinati."
Year: 2005
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome Guest House
Review: "Cinque Stanze con l'atmosfera di une casa privata a pochi metri dalla scalinata di piazza di Spagna, altre cinque non poco lontane, a qualche minuto da via Veneto, sempre in palazzi strorici e arredate con gusto da famosi interior designer. Rappresentano l'evoluzione del B&B, con tanta privacy ma servizi e qualità da alberghi a cinque stelle, come giornali in camera con la prima colazione, autista all'aeroporto, parrucchiere. Le guest house hanno il bagno turco, pavimenti in parquet, marmo o resine, porcellane Ginori, TV sat anche LCD, aria condizionata, fiori freschi, colori e tessuti raffinati."
Guidebook: European City Breaks
Year: 2006
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome & Florence Accommodation
Accommodation Review: "Florence – Sleeping - The elegant recipe of the well-known Rome hotel has been repeated in Florence – a handful of individually designed (and loosely themed) rooms creating an intimate and hotel feel. The owners have a personal and idiosyncratic style, with plenty of quality fabrics and artefacts from around the world. Rome – Sleeping - The name is the Italian title of EM Forster’s novel, Howard’s End, from the which you might imagine a staid attempt at Englishness – you’d be wrong. This excellent-value designer B&B is now in 2 houses where the design is bright and colourful and the attention to detail commendable, from the slippers and the fresh breakfast to the carefully sourced soap."
Year: 2006
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome & Florence Accommodation
Accommodation Review: "Florence – Sleeping - The elegant recipe of the well-known Rome hotel has been repeated in Florence – a handful of individually designed (and loosely themed) rooms creating an intimate and hotel feel. The owners have a personal and idiosyncratic style, with plenty of quality fabrics and artefacts from around the world. Rome – Sleeping - The name is the Italian title of EM Forster’s novel, Howard’s End, from the which you might imagine a staid attempt at Englishness – you’d be wrong. This excellent-value designer B&B is now in 2 houses where the design is bright and colourful and the attention to detail commendable, from the slippers and the fresh breakfast to the carefully sourced soap."
Guide Book: Frommer's
Year: 2004
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome Guest House
Review: "It's rare to make a new discovery in the tourist-trodden Piazza di Spagna area, which is why Casa Howard comes as a pleasant surprise. The little B&B occupies about two-thirds of the second floor of a historic structure. The welcoming owners maintain beautifully furnished guest rooms, each with its own private bathroom with a tub/shower combination (although some bathrooms lie outside the bedrooms in the hallway). The Pink Room is the most spacious, and has an en suite bathroom. Cristy at reception can "arrange anything" in Rome for you and will also invite you to use the house's private Turkish sauna."
Year: 2004
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome Guest House
Review: "It's rare to make a new discovery in the tourist-trodden Piazza di Spagna area, which is why Casa Howard comes as a pleasant surprise. The little B&B occupies about two-thirds of the second floor of a historic structure. The welcoming owners maintain beautifully furnished guest rooms, each with its own private bathroom with a tub/shower combination (although some bathrooms lie outside the bedrooms in the hallway). The Pink Room is the most spacious, and has an en suite bathroom. Cristy at reception can "arrange anything" in Rome for you and will also invite you to use the house's private Turkish sauna."
Magazine: International Herald Tribune Guide
Year: 2004
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome Guest House
Review: "In the heart of the city, only 100 yards from the piazza di Spagna. This is an English style guesthouse inside a historic building. Casa Howard, named after its British owner, Jennifer Howard, has five rooms with wooden floors and coffered ceilings. Breakfast is fresh from a Tuscan farm owned by Ms Howard. Excellent service. It's a home more than a hotel, and guests are usually introduced by other guests."
Year: 2004
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome Guest House
Review: "In the heart of the city, only 100 yards from the piazza di Spagna. This is an English style guesthouse inside a historic building. Casa Howard, named after its British owner, Jennifer Howard, has five rooms with wooden floors and coffered ceilings. Breakfast is fresh from a Tuscan farm owned by Ms Howard. Excellent service. It's a home more than a hotel, and guests are usually introduced by other guests."
Guide Book: Italia Gastronomica
Year: 2006
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Florence Guest House
Review: "This Florence guesthouse is a combination of charm, location anbd decoration, offering various amenities and beautiful furnishings. It has kept all the original floors and ceilings to fully achieve the private houe concept: to provide guests with a beautiful house or apartment with a personal touch, whilst not forsaking the convenience of hotel service. Situated within walking distance of the railway station, the Uffizi, the Duomo and Via Tornabuoni, it is a wonderful base from which to enjoy one of the most delightful cities in the world, expect an intimate and elegant mansion, warm rooms - as well as personal service... "
Year: 2006
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Florence Guest House
Review: "This Florence guesthouse is a combination of charm, location anbd decoration, offering various amenities and beautiful furnishings. It has kept all the original floors and ceilings to fully achieve the private houe concept: to provide guests with a beautiful house or apartment with a personal touch, whilst not forsaking the convenience of hotel service. Situated within walking distance of the railway station, the Uffizi, the Duomo and Via Tornabuoni, it is a wonderful base from which to enjoy one of the most delightful cities in the world, expect an intimate and elegant mansion, warm rooms - as well as personal service... "
Guide Book: Italia Gastronomica
Year: 2006
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome Guest House
Review: "This Rome guesthouse is a hidden gem right in the center of Rome, close to the Spanish Steps. Walk up the marble steps and enter a heaven of peace and quiet after the hustle and bustle of the Spanish Steps area. A cosy, charming Rome accommodation, resembling the private house of a stylish friend, with high-wooden beam ceilings and laque or parquet floors, and 8 exclusive and fashionable rooms decorated with taste and comfortably furnished... "
Year: 2006
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome Guest House
Review: "This Rome guesthouse is a hidden gem right in the center of Rome, close to the Spanish Steps. Walk up the marble steps and enter a heaven of peace and quiet after the hustle and bustle of the Spanish Steps area. A cosy, charming Rome accommodation, resembling the private house of a stylish friend, with high-wooden beam ceilings and laque or parquet floors, and 8 exclusive and fashionable rooms decorated with taste and comfortably furnished... "
Guidebook: Lonely Planet Rome
Year: 2001
Guest house: Casa Howard Rome Guesthouse
Review: "Places to stay – TOP END. Several of Rome’s best hotels are located near Piazza di Spagna. One of the newer ones, and a complete delight, is Casa Howard (Via Capo le Case, 18). More guesthouse than hotel, the five rooms are individually decorated with gorgeous fabrics and paintings. Four of them are named after the colour upon which the décor is based – Azzurra, Rosa, Bianca, Verde – and one is known as the Chinese Room. Two rooms have en suite bathrooms, the others have their own private bathroom in a separate room next door."
Year: 2001
Guest house: Casa Howard Rome Guesthouse
Review: "Places to stay – TOP END. Several of Rome’s best hotels are located near Piazza di Spagna. One of the newer ones, and a complete delight, is Casa Howard (Via Capo le Case, 18). More guesthouse than hotel, the five rooms are individually decorated with gorgeous fabrics and paintings. Four of them are named after the colour upon which the décor is based – Azzurra, Rosa, Bianca, Verde – and one is known as the Chinese Room. Two rooms have en suite bathrooms, the others have their own private bathroom in a separate room next door."
Guidebook: Lonely Planet - Best of Rome
Year: 2003
Guest house: Casa Howard Rome Guesthouse
Review: "Places to stay – TOP END. Casa Howard – Someone with exquisite taste and a keen eye for style created this stunning Spanish Steps guesthouse, which has five distinctly decorated rooms with gorgeous fabrics. Only two have en suite bathrooms although the others do have detached bathrooms (there’s even a Turkish bath) and slippers are provided for those short corridor walks. The same people have another guesthouse nearby, with similar standards and prices. "
Year: 2003
Guest house: Casa Howard Rome Guesthouse
Review: "Places to stay – TOP END. Casa Howard – Someone with exquisite taste and a keen eye for style created this stunning Spanish Steps guesthouse, which has five distinctly decorated rooms with gorgeous fabrics. Only two have en suite bathrooms although the others do have detached bathrooms (there’s even a Turkish bath) and slippers are provided for those short corridor walks. The same people have another guesthouse nearby, with similar standards and prices. "
Guidebook: Lonely Planet Florence
Year: 2006
Guest house: Casa Howard Florence Guesthouse
Review: "Casa Howard, Boutique Hotel. With six rooms, this is a delicious retreat near the train station. Building on a successful business started in Rome, the owners have created a set of unique and different rooms. Starting with the paintwork, ranging from lime green to russet red, each room boasts an unpredictable mix of styles and furnishings. You might have an old-style bath, a fireplace and antique furniture."
Year: 2006
Guest house: Casa Howard Florence Guesthouse
Review: "Casa Howard, Boutique Hotel. With six rooms, this is a delicious retreat near the train station. Building on a successful business started in Rome, the owners have created a set of unique and different rooms. Starting with the paintwork, ranging from lime green to russet red, each room boasts an unpredictable mix of styles and furnishings. You might have an old-style bath, a fireplace and antique furniture."
Website: Lonely Planet
Year: 2007
Guest house: Casa Howard Rome Guesthouse
Review: "Casa Howard (Howard's House) is a gem. Fine fabrics abound and the paintings perfectly suit the individual colour schemes in the 10 striking rooms (five at Via Capo le Case and five at Via Sistina 149). The location is great in both cases, there's a Turkish bath and breakfast is delicious. [...] "
Year: 2007
Guest house: Casa Howard Rome Guesthouse
Review: "Casa Howard (Howard's House) is a gem. Fine fabrics abound and the paintings perfectly suit the individual colour schemes in the 10 striking rooms (five at Via Capo le Case and five at Via Sistina 149). The location is great in both cases, there's a Turkish bath and breakfast is delicious. [...] "
Website: Luxe City Guide - Rome
Year: 2007
Guest house: Casa Howard Rome Guesthouse
Review: "With 10 uniquely designed, cosy rooms in two locations, it’s like staying in a very relaxed, stylish friend’s home. Take the saucy zebra room with little balcony if you can. And yes, pets are allowed, so Fido can live la dolce vita too. Woof! "
Year: 2007
Guest house: Casa Howard Rome Guesthouse
Review: "With 10 uniquely designed, cosy rooms in two locations, it’s like staying in a very relaxed, stylish friend’s home. Take the saucy zebra room with little balcony if you can. And yes, pets are allowed, so Fido can live la dolce vita too. Woof! "
Magazine: NB Rome Issue
Year: 2002
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome Guest House
Review: "A mere 100 meters from the Spanish Steps this quirky guesthouse provides welcome despite the stiff, stuffy attitudes that prevail in so many of Rome's better-known hotels. Owned by a Briton, Jennifer Howard, and her Italian husband count Masimiliano Leonardi di Casalino, it's very small (just five rooms, though a further five were due to open in another building on via Sistina at the end of 2002) and intimate. The interiors are attractive: parquet floors, beamed ceilings, antiques and custom-made furniture (the better to fit the space available). Some are a little chintzy, but the crimson Shanghai Tang silk that swathes the Chinese Room is authentically glamourous and exotic, and the toile de Jouy in the White Room (each is called after its decorative scheme) is pretty and fresh. the down side is that only two rooms (Green and Pink) have en-suite bathrooms. The others have private bathrooms, but you'll need to use the kimono and slippers provided to reach them. Both properties incidentally, also feature communal hamman Turkish baths. And every guestroom in the new property has a computer with ADSL line. [...] "
Year: 2002
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome Guest House
Review: "A mere 100 meters from the Spanish Steps this quirky guesthouse provides welcome despite the stiff, stuffy attitudes that prevail in so many of Rome's better-known hotels. Owned by a Briton, Jennifer Howard, and her Italian husband count Masimiliano Leonardi di Casalino, it's very small (just five rooms, though a further five were due to open in another building on via Sistina at the end of 2002) and intimate. The interiors are attractive: parquet floors, beamed ceilings, antiques and custom-made furniture (the better to fit the space available). Some are a little chintzy, but the crimson Shanghai Tang silk that swathes the Chinese Room is authentically glamourous and exotic, and the toile de Jouy in the White Room (each is called after its decorative scheme) is pretty and fresh. the down side is that only two rooms (Green and Pink) have en-suite bathrooms. The others have private bathrooms, but you'll need to use the kimono and slippers provided to reach them. Both properties incidentally, also feature communal hamman Turkish baths. And every guestroom in the new property has a computer with ADSL line. [...] "
Magazine: Res Florence Guide
Year: 2007
Guest house: Casa Howard Florence Guesthouse
Review: "Ett guesthouse efter anglosaxiskt koncept helt inrett av arkitekten Tommaso Ziffer. Inget rum är det andra likt. Gä igenom rummen pä hemsidan och se vilket du gillar bäst. Bokning via hemsidan eller kontoret i Rom. "
Year: 2007
Guest house: Casa Howard Florence Guesthouse
Review: "Ett guesthouse efter anglosaxiskt koncept helt inrett av arkitekten Tommaso Ziffer. Inget rum är det andra likt. Gä igenom rummen pä hemsidan och se vilket du gillar bäst. Bokning via hemsidan eller kontoret i Rom. "
Magazine: Res Rome Guide
Year: 2007
Guest house: Casa Howard Rome Guesthouse
Review: "Trött pa anonyma och standardinredda hotell? Da skall du prova detta guesthouse, där varje rum har sin egen speciella inredning och färg. Förebilden är utan tvekan brittisk, där bara namnet leder tankarna till nagon av E.M. Forsters romaner. Detta ambitiösa projekt startades av Massimiliano Leonardi, som hade tröttnat pa att arbeta med den internationella storfinansen. Tillsammans med hustrun Jennifer (född Howard) öppnade han för fyra ar sedan ett första guesthouse i Rom. Detta är alltsa inget hotell, utan snarast som att bo i ett möblerat hem, där man far egen nyckel och där tva perfekta house-keepers Christy och Edgar tar hand om all tänkbar service. Tva olika adresser i centrum intill Spanska trappan. Alla rum finns detaljerat beskrivna pa hemsidan."
Year: 2007
Guest house: Casa Howard Rome Guesthouse
Review: "Trött pa anonyma och standardinredda hotell? Da skall du prova detta guesthouse, där varje rum har sin egen speciella inredning och färg. Förebilden är utan tvekan brittisk, där bara namnet leder tankarna till nagon av E.M. Forsters romaner. Detta ambitiösa projekt startades av Massimiliano Leonardi, som hade tröttnat pa att arbeta med den internationella storfinansen. Tillsammans med hustrun Jennifer (född Howard) öppnade han för fyra ar sedan ett första guesthouse i Rom. Detta är alltsa inget hotell, utan snarast som att bo i ett möblerat hem, där man far egen nyckel och där tva perfekta house-keepers Christy och Edgar tar hand om all tänkbar service. Tva olika adresser i centrum intill Spanska trappan. Alla rum finns detaljerat beskrivna pa hemsidan."
Guide Book: Rome For Romance
Year: 2006
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Florence Guest House
Review: "B&B is far too pedestrain a term to describe this 12-room extravaganza in an old palazzo just yards from Piazza Santa Maria Novella. As the latest creation of owners Count Leonardi and Jenifer Howard forneris it joins their original Rome success story. That means burying blandness and uniformity in favour of orifginal and imaginatively themed rooms. Twin this with all the warmth of a private home plus can't-do-enough service and you're in clover. Ancient features are axiomatic in Florence and there's no cheating here; parquet and stone floors, heavy wood doors, marble chimney pieces and numerous fine artworks. However its the stunning decor and host of luxurious little extras that turn a stay into a treat. We were hard pushed to decide between the extravagant drawing room in soigné black; the lavish Oriental room with its emperor-sized bed and erotic prints or the impressively tome-lined Library. There is even a Turkish bath - exclusively yours when staying in the Garden room. Housekeepers, aka "House genies" are also trained to add to Casa Howard's spells."
Year: 2006
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Florence Guest House
Review: "B&B is far too pedestrain a term to describe this 12-room extravaganza in an old palazzo just yards from Piazza Santa Maria Novella. As the latest creation of owners Count Leonardi and Jenifer Howard forneris it joins their original Rome success story. That means burying blandness and uniformity in favour of orifginal and imaginatively themed rooms. Twin this with all the warmth of a private home plus can't-do-enough service and you're in clover. Ancient features are axiomatic in Florence and there's no cheating here; parquet and stone floors, heavy wood doors, marble chimney pieces and numerous fine artworks. However its the stunning decor and host of luxurious little extras that turn a stay into a treat. We were hard pushed to decide between the extravagant drawing room in soigné black; the lavish Oriental room with its emperor-sized bed and erotic prints or the impressively tome-lined Library. There is even a Turkish bath - exclusively yours when staying in the Garden room. Housekeepers, aka "House genies" are also trained to add to Casa Howard's spells."
Guidebook: TimeOut Florence
Year: 2006
Guest house: Casa Howard Florence Guesthouse
Review: "Where to Stay – Santa Maria Novella - Expensive. Casa Howard. The owner of this stylish pied-à-terre sets out to offer comfortable, upmarket accommodation at reasonable rates in the discrete atmosphere of a handsome mansion. The 12 rooms are classy and vaguely eccentric, decorated with strong colours and a mix of antique and custom-made furniture. Check online to choose the one you like best: the big, dramatic Drawing Room, perhaps, or maybe the Black and White Room, in which a blown-up reproduction of Monet’s Olympia covers one wall. Bathrooms are similarly quirky but well equipped, and come with Santa Maria Novella’s smellies. There’s even a Turkish bath on site, should you have overdone in on the sightseeing. Bookings are made through the original Rome branch. When is a Hotel not a Hotel? You may find yourself confused about the names given to the various categories of accommodation in Florence and Tuscany. Rules about this are established on a regional level, so they vary to some degree throughout Italy. In Florence, to be officially classed as a hotel (and therefore subject to a star classification), you must have seven or more rooms. To qualify as an affittacamere (literally “rooms to rent”), you can have no more than six rooms. Some are basically private houses with a couple of rooms for rent (unlike in the UK, most owners don’t live on site), while others are, to all intents and purposes, small hotels. Some more upmarket affittacamere are now allowed to class themselves as bed and breakfasts.
Residenza d’epoca is the term used for a listed building with no more than 12 rooms, while to call yourself a residence you must have a minimum of self-catering units. To add to the confusion, a number of establishments adopt certain names because they sound nice, but they may officially be classified as something else. There are ‘B&Bs’ in Florence, for example, that don’t actually serve breakfast.
In practice, though, these rules and regulations don’t really affect the average traveller – all you need to know is that you don’t have to stick to regular hotels if you want something with a bit more character.Our favourite include Casa Howard Residenza d’Epoca, Le Stanze di Santa Croce, Residenza Santo Spirito, Villa Poggio San Felice, B&B Borgo Pinti and Johlea Uno & Johlea Due. In addition to these there are dozens of other listed in the tourist board’s annual accommodation booklet."
Year: 2006
Guest house: Casa Howard Florence Guesthouse
Review: "Where to Stay – Santa Maria Novella - Expensive. Casa Howard. The owner of this stylish pied-à-terre sets out to offer comfortable, upmarket accommodation at reasonable rates in the discrete atmosphere of a handsome mansion. The 12 rooms are classy and vaguely eccentric, decorated with strong colours and a mix of antique and custom-made furniture. Check online to choose the one you like best: the big, dramatic Drawing Room, perhaps, or maybe the Black and White Room, in which a blown-up reproduction of Monet’s Olympia covers one wall. Bathrooms are similarly quirky but well equipped, and come with Santa Maria Novella’s smellies. There’s even a Turkish bath on site, should you have overdone in on the sightseeing. Bookings are made through the original Rome branch. When is a Hotel not a Hotel? You may find yourself confused about the names given to the various categories of accommodation in Florence and Tuscany. Rules about this are established on a regional level, so they vary to some degree throughout Italy. In Florence, to be officially classed as a hotel (and therefore subject to a star classification), you must have seven or more rooms. To qualify as an affittacamere (literally “rooms to rent”), you can have no more than six rooms. Some are basically private houses with a couple of rooms for rent (unlike in the UK, most owners don’t live on site), while others are, to all intents and purposes, small hotels. Some more upmarket affittacamere are now allowed to class themselves as bed and breakfasts.
Residenza d’epoca is the term used for a listed building with no more than 12 rooms, while to call yourself a residence you must have a minimum of self-catering units. To add to the confusion, a number of establishments adopt certain names because they sound nice, but they may officially be classified as something else. There are ‘B&Bs’ in Florence, for example, that don’t actually serve breakfast.
In practice, though, these rules and regulations don’t really affect the average traveller – all you need to know is that you don’t have to stick to regular hotels if you want something with a bit more character.Our favourite include Casa Howard Residenza d’Epoca, Le Stanze di Santa Croce, Residenza Santo Spirito, Villa Poggio San Felice, B&B Borgo Pinti and Johlea Uno & Johlea Due. In addition to these there are dozens of other listed in the tourist board’s annual accommodation booklet."
Guidebook: TimeOut Rome
Year: 2006
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome Guest House
Review: "The bad news is that, in Rome, space and comfort don't come cheap, but the good news is that many hotels in the high- and mid-range brackets have been given a much-needed makeover. [..] the ten rooms at the exquisite Casa Howard (five at via Capo le Case 18, another five at via Sistina 149) "
Year: 2006
Guesthouse: Casa Howard Rome Guest House
Review: "The bad news is that, in Rome, space and comfort don't come cheap, but the good news is that many hotels in the high- and mid-range brackets have been given a much-needed makeover. [..] the ten rooms at the exquisite Casa Howard (five at via Capo le Case 18, another five at via Sistina 149) "
