Hotel de Russie

Picasso stayed here. So did Jean Cocteau and Igor Stravinsky. The hotel sits between the Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps, but its secret weapon is the terraced garden — the Secret Garden, in fact — that climbs the Pincian Hill behind the hotel and makes it easy to forget you're in the centre of a city of three million people. Originally opened in 1816 and reinvented by Rocco Forte in 2000, the de Russie manages to be both fashionable and relaxed, which is not easy in Rome. 120 rooms, Le Jardin de Russie restaurant in the garden, and the Stravinskij Bar, which is as close to a civilised Roman evening as you'll find.