Palazzo Niccolini Al Duomo by Ken Scrudato

If Hotel Burchianti is somewhat difficult to find, Palazzo Niccolini verges on the impossible. My experience was that my taxi driver had no idea of its existence, and its neighbors on the Via Dei Servi knew precious little more. This is a good thing, because the personal little heaven that awaits you inside will erase all memories of frustrating location efforts. And in fact, you'll want to keep this grand little B&B as closely guarded a secret as possible.

Here again, guests are buzzed through a prodigious gate, and a lift delivers you to a tiny reception area. Possessing a genuinely traceable aristocratic and artistic history (it once housed Donatello's workshop, for instance), you half expect that you've stumbled into the set of a Merchant-Ivory film, except that all of the overwrought drama is replaced by a warm, earnest welcome. If you've chosen one of the seven original rooms or suites, you'll get old-fashioned, somewhat rustic charm, with high ceilings, swish furnishings and marble bathrooms.

I desperately urge, however, splurging for the astonishing penthouse suite. Done up in a sort of warm, elegant modernism, it has a raised Jacuzzi, spectacular wood-beamed ceiling and a plasma television. But its truly priceless feature is an utterly breathtaking view of the Duomo; you feel as if you could almost reach out and touch Brunelleschi's masterpiece from your window. The Niccolini's only public space, the magnificently opulent drawing room just off the reception area, is as regal and classy a place as you could ever hope in which to take breakfast or an aperitif. A secret...and best kept that way.