From the outside the Visconti Palace doesn’t look like one of the most appealing places to stay in Rome. In all fairness, it looks a bit like a 1970s conference centre – all brutalist architecture and heavy concrete – but a recent renovation has made the lobby really rather glamorous, with exotic flowers, brightly coloured furniture and contemporary design lighting. Its location in the well-heeled residential area of Prati is quiet and restful, and yet the hotel is just a short skip from Piazza del Popolo in the centre of town and the Vatican. Bedrooms still retain a slightly corporate feel, but they’re slowly doing them up and have joined the nascent trend in arty Roman hotels, displaying their own (fairly mediocre) collection of 20th-century Italian art.