Casa Howard Rome

A pair of stylish 5-room guesthouses near the Spanish Steps, combining the comforts of home with the service of a top hotel

Funky fabrics, fine furniture, fresh flowers... this is B&B, Howard fashion. Jenifer Howard-Forneris, a Roman-born Briton, is the designer eye behind Casa Howard, and her husband, Count Massimiliano Leonardi di Casalino, the business brain. Together they have created a pair of intimate guesthouses in the heart of Rome's hippest quarter - with a little help, it must be said, from Tommaso Ziffer, designer of the ultra-swanky Hotel de Russie a few blocks away. The result is a friendly yet hip pied-à-terre, an upmarket kind of 'at home in Rome', which attracts (mostly Anglophone) guests by word of mouth rather than advertising. And it's often fully booked, so it must be working.

One of its secrets is the magical combination of homely comforts (honesty bar, homemade jams, your own front door key) with a level of service that would credit a 4- or even 5-star hotel: laundry, masseurs, daily flowers, WiFi, and a nothing-is-too-much-trouble housekeeper in each casa.

Highs

• Within splashing distance of the Spanish Steps
• Impeccable service from the housekeepers
• Restaurant bookings, masseurs, baby-sitters, shopping guides, laundry, even Papal passes can be arranged
• Eccentric modern design will appeal to the fashion set, esp. the Via Sistina house
• Use of Turkish bath to restore flagging limbs, in via Capo le Case house
• Special packages offered in combo with their sister hotel in Florence, 100 minutes away by train

Lows

• Some rooms are on the small side
• 3 out of 5 private bathrooms in Capo le Case are not ensuite (though kimonos and slippers soften your passage down the hall)
• We've had recent complaints about attention to detail
• The hustle and bustle of the Spanish Steps can filter through