Hotel Piazza Bellini

Every rate included breakfast and free cancellation, so the difference is demand, not the product. If your dates can move by a week, move them.

The hotel spreads its rooms over five floors. All differ in size and view; some have a small balcony, a few have a large panoramic terrace, and a view costs a supplement. On the noble floor the split-level rooms have ceilings over 6 m, with a sitting area below and a queen bed on a mezzanine. Larger standard rooms take up to five people. The cheapest room type, by the hotel's own description, looks onto a service area.

There are also duplex studio apartments with a kitchenette and two bathrooms, useful for two couples or a family. Booking.com's description notes original paintings by the local artist Alessandro Cocchia in the rooms.

Piazza Bellini is one of the old town's main evening squares, with bars and outdoor tables and crowds on weekend nights. The hotel says all its rooms are soundproofed. We cannot test that claim; what we can say is that rooms facing the courtyard or high up are the safer choice for light sleepers, and that a terrace room is a treat in October and a noise risk on a Saturday.

By OpenStreetMap foot routing, Line 1's Dante station is 5 minutes (350 m) away, the MANN 7 minutes (550 m) and Piazza del Gesu Nuovo 7 minutes (520 m). Piazza del Plebiscito is 25 minutes (1.9 km), Molo Beverello 24 minutes (1.8 km) and Napoli Centrale 28 minutes (2.1 km). The decumani walk begins around the corner, and the pizzerias of Via dei Tribunali are a short walk east.

The city's Via del Sole ZTL gate is off this street, so do not drive around the old town looking for the door. The hotel does not advertise parking; Costantinopoli 104, across the street, has indoor parking at €35 a day.

Younger couples and friends who want to be where the old town's evenings happen, museum-goers who want the MANN and Cappella Sansevero on foot, and families who can use a five-bed room or a duplex. It suits less well anyone who needs quiet after midnight at weekends, or anyone booking in a peak week, when €455 buys a lot more elsewhere in the city.