Review of Casa Howard Florence, by The TI Review Team

It took Casa Howard's owners a full two years to restore the palazzo on Via della Scala that houses their luxe B&B; most of the original moldings, baseboards, terracotta, beams and flooring were preserved-and if not, they were replaced with the highest-quality materials.

It's a private home (albeit a huge, wildly stylish one), and feels that way-easygoing, casual, a place from which to come and go when you please (you've got a key to the front door). Casa Howard's decor is quirky, original, and rarely misses a beat: retro fixtures and lamps mix with fancy passementerie and cheeky animal prints. Some of those colour prints and black-and-white photographs are collectibles.

It's not a hotel, so don't expect room service, or minibars, or an on-desk assist whenever you need it. However, Casa Howard does offer an excellent concierge services to guests, both for snagging last-minute tables at Beccofino or Enoteca Pinchiorri, and for private and culinary tours, cultural day trips into Tuscany, and personal shopping services. There's a patio for guests with dogs, another for guests with kids, and a library/TV room stocked with a curated mix of DVDs, music, books and periodicals. Cooking classes are also available.

It's all about your room here at Casa Howard. Each is utterly unique in look and feel-from the two-floor studio, with its cobale-blue lounge, winding steel stair and zebra-motif second story bath, to the library room, lined entirely with bookshelves, to the garden room, which has exclusive use of a gorgeous five-person Turkish Hammam.