It’s easy to forget (especially when traveling by train, or heaven forbid, driving) just how civilized a place Italy is. But the fact that even a city like Turin is supplied with top-flight luxury hotels like the Principi di Piemonte should tell you something.
One of the first things it tells you is actually that this is a culture that’s very fond of marble and gold. But where this hotel could have lapsed into excess — and, prior to its 2006 renovation, probably did — the Principi di Piemonte atones with a healthy dose of purifying contemporary design, tempering its baroque flourishes with a bit of neutral-toned minimalism.
This is primarily a business hotel, Turin being one of Italy’s industrial northern cities; the rooms come with desks, ergonomic chairs, and wireless internet access. A full-service spa ensures that nobody leaves unrelaxed, and the restaurant and bar provide hurried travelers with in-house dining and nightlife options. The Principi di Piemonte’s central location, three hundred meters from the train station, makes it convenient for all sorts of errands: plentiful transport links make traveling relatively easy, and the Via Roma, with its wealth of stores and boutiques, is a short walk away.
author watson@mouselink.net, source www.tablethotels.com