"The ambience and history are awe-inspiring at this eighteenth-century mansion steps from the Popes’ Palace. The roots of the quaint hotel—once home to a cardinal—are reflected in the guest rooms’ tapestries, oak floors, and Carrara-marble bathrooms. Curtains with silk linings drop to the floors. Guests can take cooking classes in the nineteenth-century basement kitchen with a wood-fired stove, followed by a tasting menu and wines chosen by the sommelier. The glass-covered patio offers a buffet of homemade pastries and international teas every afternoon, including madeleines and chocolate fondants."