Borgo Santo Pietro

Rooms

The decadently luxurious rooms are in a Medici/Marie Antoinette-at-Versailles style: some have old stone fireplaces, most flaunt roll-top bathtubs, and all have luscious fabrics, polished floorboards and exquisite chandeliers.

The magnificent Santo Pietro Master Suite is more of a self-contained apartment than a room, taking up the entire first floor of the south wing. Sweep through tall gilded wooden doors to find an enormous (2.4m wide!) four-poster, a private terrace for breakfast, a huge bathroom and a sitting room with a stone-carved fireplace and oak dining furniture. It’s a fantasy suite and doesn’t come cheap, but is worth the splurge for honeymooners.

Though not as vast, the suites are still enormous. Grand and dramatic, Rinaldo Pievano di Sorciano is the only ground-floor room and would be good for families who fear making noise. Decorated in gold and black, it's deliciously chic. Valle Serena is equally big but decorated in blue and gold. This was where we stayed, and I can vouch for its romance - several silk-festooned windows look onto the gardens and courtyard, there’s a roll-top bathtub in the living area (near the stone fireplace), an enormous bathroom and a Titian-esque nude on the wall.

Via del Pelligrino (a Junior Suite) was a favourite of ours - decorated in crisp silver and grey, with a fireplace and a small seating area with damask-covered chairs. Glazed French doors led to a bathroom with a roll-top bath. Similar in size was Studio Badia (also a Junior Suite) - a dark room but moodily so, decorated in deep burgundy silks with a Bordeaux-red marble fireplace. Styled as a library, it has shelves filled with antique tomes and a globe.

San Galgano, Sir Vincent (both Deluxe Rooms) and Giardin de Fiori (a Superior Room) are the smaller rooms. San Galgano follows the Baroque theme, decorated in gold and purple with a stunning fresco on one wall. An antique writing desk placed near the window is a nice touch. Giardin de Fiori is a pretty room with floral motifs on the curtains and upholstered chairs, and on a fresco by the window. Sir Vincent follows the feel of Studio Badia, with soft, golden shades and views out over the rose garden and fountains.

Recently added are a trio of Garden Suites (Rosmarino, Basilico and Maggiorana), each like a little cottage with stone floors, antique furniture, chandeliers, sumptuous fabrics, exposed beams and old carved fireplaces. Each also has a private terrace and a large garden.