Please remove this from the next edition of the guide book. Whilst, the description provided is quite accurate “a completely refurbished hotel, inside the shell of an 18th Century Palace”, this premises really should not be recommended or in any way associated with such a classy guide. I stayed overnight on the 7th of Feburary 2012. The staff were friendly and helpful but the interior was dreadful. This began with the cramped bouncing lift-I have come across these before in Italy, I will admit- but bear with me as I describe the scene. The room that I stayed in was found at the end of a horrible floor. The room did have pretty amazing views of the Duomo, but the glass was grubby and full of handprints. The decor was the stuff of a seventies horror movie. Think unrelaxing pastel colours, uninspiring prints in poorly chosen frames, poor carpets and impractical furniture. The en suite was at the top of a little staircase and had the handy shower fitting that requires you to hold the showerhead between your knees to wrinse off.

Siena is such a beautiful city- this didn´t really detract from my overall exoerience but I think it should be omitted. I did have the pleasure of staying in the B&B Alle Due Porte the following night. Again your description proved to be accurate but the experience was much more enjoyable. The exposed wooden beams were a particularly fine feature.

The costs were 99 and 90 euros per night, respectively for 3 adults sharing a room on a B&B basis.

I have found the practical information sections in Blue Guides very reliable over the years and I usually pay a lot of attention to your recommendations.
I would strongly advise any traveller to avoid driving to Siena. Parking is very limited and the car parks difficult to find when approaching the city for the first time. Maybe GPS would help this but old fashioned map reading, signposting and inquiries from the friendly locals proved very difficult. We can compare the experience with Florence and many other Tuscan towns-they didn’t prove to be much of a problem. Siena is well served by public transport.
Maybe we were unlucky in our choice of room in Hotel Duomo but I wouldn´t chance another one to be honest.

TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE THIS EDIFICE WAS BUILT BY MY ANCESTOR RAJA RAGHUNATH RAI BAHADUR IN THE 17TH CENTURY. HE WAS A NOBLE AT THE MUGHAL COURT IN DELHI AND WAS A SON OF THE PRINCELY HOUSE OF KUKRAJ . THIS WAS HIS PERSONAL RESIDENCE. HE LATER MOVED TO THE COURT OF SHAHJAHAN AT THE RED FORT. MY GREAT-GREAT GRAND UNCLE MAHARAJA LAL AFTER WHOM IS NAMED AN ENTIRE STREET IN CIVIL LINES DELHI VISITED THIS HAVELI WHICH WAS ALWAYS KNOWN AS KAKARANIYON BAHADUR’S KII HAVELI . OUR FAMILY HAS BEEN VISITING THIS HAVELI FOR SOMETIME NOW AND WOULD IDEALLY LIKE YOU TO HELP US GET ITS NAME BACK AND IF POSSIBLE TO URGE THE HARYANA GOVERNMENT TO RESTORE IT AND CONVERT IT TINTO A MEMORIAL FOR THE PUBLIC IN THE NAME OF RAJA RAGHUNATH WHO’S NAME FINDS A MENTION IN ANY WORTHWHILE BOOK ON MUGHAL HISTORY . YOU MIGHT FIND IT USEFUL TO READ RIZVI SAHB’S VOLUMES ON INDIA AND PERHAPS A BOOK WRITTEN BY MY DISTANT AUNT MADHUR JAFFERY , A GLOBAL INDIAN ENTILTED ‘CLIMBING THE MANGO TREES ‘ PUBLISHED BY EBURY RANDOM HOUSE WOULD GIVE YOU A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF OUR ROOTS AT NARNUAL AND OUR PROJENITOR RAJA RAGHUNATH . ERSTWHILE PRINCESS RACHNA BAHADUR PLS DO GET IN TOUCH WITH US AS WE WOULD LIKE TO GET THE ORIGINS OF THIS COMPLEX KNOWN PUBLICLY SO THAT THERE IS NO CONFUSION IN THE FUTURE FOR YOUR PUBLICATION.

The current edition of Blue Guide New York has more ample coverage of all the sights in Manhattan and Brooklyn and less detail on the outer boroughs. Partly this is driven by what can realistically fit into a single volume, and partly by the publication of The Encyclopedia of New York City, which doomed to vanity any claims we might make to encylcopedic status. For the new edition we decided to go for depth over breadth.