Where? In the heart of Rome, close to the Piazza del Popolo - the place to drink a late-night grappa and watch the world go by.
Mmm, you can't beat the Eternal City. Better still, the Locarno provides complimentary bicycles so guests can whizz past the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, or pedal through nearby Villa Borghese, Rome's largest park.
So what style is the hotel? Enigmatic and individual. From the outside it looks like the setting for an Agatha Christie novel; on the inside it is reminiscent of a film noir apartment.
Darkly evocative, then? Built in 1925, and run by a mother-daughter duo, the interior is a moody mix of wrought-iron railings, art deco lamps, a belle epoque lift and turn-of-the-century bentwood furniture.
Who goes there? Writers, film-makers, photographers and musicians, who love the arty atmosphere and sense of seclusion. Although there are 66 rooms, suites and apartments, sightings of fellow guests are few and far between.
Tell us more. All the guest quarters are individually decorated but standards do vary. The best feature gleaming parquet floors, carved wooden ceilings, a Tuscan palette and classy objets d'art. Less appealing are the smaller, shabbier rooms with showers rather than gargantuan marble baths.