Review of Grand Hotel Baglioni, by The TI Review Team

TI reviewer Aaron Davies:
With its white marble, chandeliers and a grand stairway, the Grand Hotel Baglioni is more palace than luxury hotel. Opposite the cathedral and a minute's walk from Piazza Maggiore, this is Bologna's finest place to stay. Taking up a part of the Palazzo Fava, it wears its history with pride - there are Roman remains near the bar, frescoes by Caracci throughout and one of Bologna's 23 leaning towers overlooks the terrace.

The Baglioni certainly lives up to its sobriquet and carries off this unashamedly luxurious interior decoration with style. Everything here is on a grand scale; palatial corridors are wide enough for ducal carriages, walls are decked out with original renaissance art and plush public spaces are dotted with antique furniture.

Great double doors lead off the red-carpeted corridors into large rooms named for famous Bolognese figures. Welcoming, discrete and very helpful, the service would not be out of place in a royal's palace. The whole luxury hotel is a paean to the noble families that ran this ochre-hued city for 1000 years.

The facilities

Grand Hotel Baglioni's restaurant I Carracci serves up Bolognese cuisine, including handmade pasta and authentic Bolognaise sauce. The room is decorated with works of art from the Carracci school, providing the perfect grand setting for an evening feast.

The rooms

Grand Hotel Baglioni's 124 well-lit, quiet rooms are classically luxurious with 17th-century antiques, rich fabrics and large pink marble bathrooms. August portraits from the Baglioni family's private collection look sombrely down from the walls. Battleship-sized beds are extremely comfortable and there is a choice of different pillows tucked away in a wardrobe. Room service is super-efficient.

This luxury hotel's décor may be 17th-century but its mod cons are definitely 21st. There's flatscreen TVs and WiFi in all rooms and the long, deep baths in some can double as Jacuzzis. Bathroom goodies (and there are plenty of those) are all by Baglioni and come in sleek little black bottles.

If you can, ask for Grand Hotel Baglioni's suite 401; sloping ceilings and a fireplace lend it an intimate, romantic feel. If money's no object book the Royal Suite. It has hosted Princess Di and the Dalai Lama, and is the last word in opulence.