My sitting room was full of those items which help one through life: chairs (upright and easy), a sofa, a well-stocked bookcase, a television (on which I found a classical music station broadcast from Venice most to my taste) and a machine for making tea and coffee. Through double doors the bedroom offered a second television, a writing desk and comfortable beds with linen of remarkably fine silkiness. In the walk-in wardrobe was generous provision for the hanging of my suits, as well as a private safe and a mini-bar.

Bathrooms are important to me. Here it was a model of attractive utility. With plenty of space (I hate any sense of claustrophobia when I am about my ablutions), this was an essay in grey-veined marble. Spotlights shone down on a pair of wash basins, a large tub, a walk-in shower, a loo, a bidet and an abundance of large, white, fluffy towels. Above the bath, as if to remind me that luxurious bathing comes to us from Imperial Rome, was a mask of Julius Caesar.

Downstairs my dinner was cooked by Chef Giovanni Cosmai, who is not only a wizard at the stoves but also a jolly good fellow. He sends his food into the hotel dining room, which looks out at the piazza at street level. It is named the Ristorante Irene, after the mother of Sir Rocco Forte. Here, along with the Director of Food, Chef Fulvio Pierangelini, Mr Cosmai has devised an attractive menu which is based upon Tuscan classics. The room itself has a contemporary feel, with discreet lighting and green leather armchairs.

I tucked into four courses of lovely food. I began with a version of the classic Vitello Tonnato, with thinly sliced veal and a tuna sauce. Then it was on to linguine, with lobster - and who, possessed of any gastronomic faculties, can resist lobster? For my main course I chose turbot, with peas and Hollandaise sauce, a combination which yielded satisfying tastes and textures. And I finished with my favourite pudding, a soufflé. But this was not any old soufflé: this was a wild strawberry soufflé, made with the wild strawberries Chef Giovanni had obtained that very day at my special request. Delicious. Did I not tell you that Mr Cosmai is a jolly good fellow?

The wine list has around 150 offerings. Apart from the champagnes, most are Italian. Prices are friendly and run from 35€ for a 2021 pinot grigio to 750€ for 2009 Cristal rosé champagne. Krug Grande Cuvé is 390€. Super Tuscans are well represented, with 2015 Sassicaia (640€), 2016 Solaia (395€), 2017 Ornellaia (320€) and 2018 Tignanello (160€). Mr Gaja’s 2016 Barbaresco is 300€ and, if you love your Amarone, the 2011 vintage by M.Lodoletta, Dal Forno is 560€. I drank two of the wines from Italy I really love, the Ca’del Bosco Franciacorta Annamaria Clementi (which I regard as the Italian Krug) in its 2013 vintage (180€) and the always reliable, rich and creamy chardonnay (with some grechetto) from Antinori, Cervaro della Sala (95€). The list has 5 vintages, all at the same price. I prefer it in its youthful phase, so I chose the 2019, and was rewarded with an intoxicating, dense nose of oaky vanilla.