24 Hours at the Palazzo Montemartini Rome
Rome is always a good idea, as long as the temperatures are fine and comfortable - meaning in spring and fall. Unless you are a lover of absolute heat and 40 degrees celsius we would not recommend the Eternal City in July/August. But when you do, make sure to check in at a hotel with pool/spa and cool rooms! There it is, our top recommendation for such a place: the Palazzo Montemartini. We arrived with our Private Limousine, with which we got a 2,5 hours city tour (more infos here), at around 1.30 pm. Unfortunately there was no bellmen on site but we could leave the luggage at the front desk. Upon entering the wondefully restored yellow Palace, we were already welcomed by a very kind front desk lady and the General Manager (by the way, he was always present during our whole stay and open for all concerns). Due to the kindness and efficiency of the front desk lady (I can't remember the name but she was from the Aeolian Islands) we felt even more welcomed and soon after doing the paperwork we were accompanied to our suite.
There are four elevators (there are surprisingly always two at your level) which sweeped us to the third floor. Held in balck and white we knew that we landed at a super stylish designhotel. Holding the room key card towards the paneel and the stylish floor-to-ceiling door opened onto our spacious accommodation. Never have I seen such a cool bedroom and such a spacious bathroom (see the pictures). I was speechless of the design of the room, there was a round room in the middle of the suite seperating the bathroom and the bedroom. Inside this room there was a half round leather sofa on a black carpet. I would say that this suite had enormous wardrobes and plenty of space to put clothes and even the biggest suitcases (like ours :-) ).
Normally Rome's hotel bathrooms are spartanous but this is definitely not the case at Palazzo Montemartini. If I would not be staying at Raffles Istanbul and Emirates Palace in a few days, I would say this bathroom is the biggest we have had during our one-month-trip through Southern Europe. Seriously I rarely saw such a vast bathroom offering a really spcious bath tub, walk-in shower (Thanks to the Management they already knew what a discerning luxury traveler like us is seeking for!), seperated toilet and bidet, very big double vanities and the best: Lorenzo Villoresi toiletries! We had a view of the thermal buildings and during the night we could hear nothing - meaning soundproofed windows! Unfortunately there is some light from some corner which can't be turned off and we have experienced softer beds.
As a special gesture of the hotel we could enjoy a dinner in the Senses Restaurant, which is a famous spot to take pictures due to the amazing fountain and its ceiling and interior! We experienced very good service and the food was delicious as well. In general I would say the atmosphere is very sophisticated and the food typical Italian with strong Sicilian influence. We had some dishes we already tried on the Aeolian Islands a few days before. The first courses were Foie Gras and Tramezzini with Shrimps, followed by a Risotto Sicily style and Ravioli alle vongole - a very interesting combination. As a main course we chose to take the Fillet of Piemontese Fassona meat which was perfectly cooked but way too much so we had to skip dessert and moved on to dessert. At the next morning we had breakfast in the breakfast room. I would describe it as typical Italian breakfast, offering a good cappuccino and good brioches as well as cakes. Don't expect to eat much for breakfast, better have lunch in a good trattoria or Pizzeria in the old town of Rome - but preferably not in a horrendously expensive tourist spot!
However Palazzo Montemartini is a perfect place to stay in Rome for couples, business men and women, fashionistas and individual travelers seeking for a design hotel in a pretty good location in Rome - Termini station is just across the street and therefore the metro is also literally underneath the hotel (no noise from there and the hotel is far enough not to be disturbed by the station). From there you can easily reach Piazza Spagna, Trevi Fountain, Coloseo and St. Peter's Square within 5-10 minutes and even without changing the lines!
Hotel Palazzo Montemartini and Ragosta Hotel Collection sponsored our stay. However all above written expresses our own opinion and has not been influenced.
