A good room does more for a trip than a famous restaurant. We look for independent houses with linen, not logos; a window that opens; and a breakfast that is fruit and bread, not a buffet under heat lamps.
Street noise matters more than a rooftop pool you will use once. Ground-floor rooms on busy lanes are a false economy. If the photographs are all of the cocktail bar, look elsewhere. Pay for the room you will actually be in at seven in the morning and eleven at night.