Grand Hotel Continental Siena - Starhotels Collezione

Character and identity

Set inside the 16th century Palazzo Gori Pannilini, steps from Piazza del Campo, this 51-room property is Siena's most overtly grand address. The architecture does much of the talking: marble, vaulted ceilings, frescoes, gilded bed frames. Rooms are individually decorated in heavy patterned fabrics and floor-length drapes, with antique oils and Chesterfield chairs in the common spaces. A bright ground-floor courtyard lounge bar pairs with a more atmospheric subterranean wine bar and a formal restaurant. Service runs old-school and slightly ceremonious, calibrated to a guest who expects polish without contemporary informality.

Who's it for

Bottom line

The case for booking comes down to setting: a genuine Renaissance palazzo, meticulously preserved, on Siena's main shopping street and a minute from Piazza del Campo. If that's what you're paying for, nothing else in town matches it. Splurge on a room with a city-centre view, and consider shoulder season when Siena's crowds thin but the restaurants stay open.