Grand Damn! Hotel de la Ville, Rome

“I have been a taxi driver in this city for 22 years and there are still things I have not found the time to see.” We are in the taxi on the way back to the airport after an A typical long weekend in Rome - feet sore from record beating step counts, bloated from pizza and tongues stained orange from Aperol Spritz. Lucky our brains still had capacity for this impromptu history lesson as we trundled a final time over the cobbles of Ancient Rome.

On our right we passed The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, the oldest temple in the entire city and next the cities only rounded temple, The Temple of Hercules Victor. Both of which sit behind the Victor Emmanuel II Monument. Impressive in its vastness we made all the right sounds that indicated we were impressed. “I hate it” our taxi driver hissed. Unbeknownst to us until now, this monument is loathed by Romans. It is too brash and too pompous set amongst the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Worse still, to make space for the vast structure parts of Ancient Rome had to be destroyed.

Rome’s history can be exhausting, it asks questions of your imagination at the pace of gelatos a minute being served at the Trevi Fountain. Picture gladiators tackling big cats at the Colosseum or the ship that wrecked at the foot of the Spanish Steps when the city flooded. The city has stopped bothering to develop the underground network, given how frequently miners struck something of such enormous archaeological significance meaning the entire project was put on hold as archaeologists swarmed to get a slice of a new layer of Rome’s lasagna.

With cobbles to navigate and history lessons to digest, a good nights sleep is of paramount importance. Routinely one of the most visited cities in the world, there are no shortage of places to stay. Hotel de la Ville, in my opinion is one of the absolute best. Let me bore you for why.

Hospitality & Location

In order to reach the hotel you will thoughtlessly tick the Spanish Steps off your to do list, de la Ville sits at the top of them. Enter the reception stage left off the Via Sistina to doormen so charming there is now a picture of them beside the description of ‘warm welcome’ in the dictionary.

Enter a large and lofty space where a collection of mismatching, de-shaping orb like mirrors deck the walls and the floor is clad in Roman mosaic. It sounds intimidating but really it’s cool but not abrasive, loud but certainly not tacky. The fun continues through to a transparent lift, geometric carpets, textured walls and heavy embossed doors. Yet inside your room, peace.

Rooms

Towering windows flood the space with natural light, shutters open wide with views on Ancient Rome and a breeze that makes the curtains dance. The style of the bedrooms is such that designer Olga Polizzi has created a space wherein a picture of any corner would give away exactly what city you were residing in. Collections of Italian classics in neat library piles, mosaic side tables and Roman busts adorn the tables and walls. Venture into your marble bathroom where locally sourced lotions and potions scent the space.

Bid adieu to whichever charming member of staff has whisked you here. Squeal. Bounce on the bed. Work up an appetite for lunch with a few laps around your room – even entry level rooms afford you plenty of space for that.

Food

On lunch… Over lunch on the roof ask your waiter to walk you through the distinctive rooftops affront you. With anecdote along the way follow their gaze and expressive Italian finger pointing as your take a birds eye tour from the Pantheon to the Vatican, detouring via some of the cities more unique churches. Come sunset when you return for a drink watch as the city slowly lights up below and retrace and reminisce your own steps of our day.

Breakfasts fit for a king are harder and harder to come by but trust me Papi when I say Kings aplenty would scoff over breakfast here. The most important meal of the day is so often overlooked in our own homes but at De La Ville, breakfast is the champion meal of the day.

Who knew that a green juice station is the key to my heart? Mama’s Tomato Bread - Italy’s answer to bruschetta. It’s breakfast, whack an egg on top. Seeds and powders presented the way they should be - in glass chemical tubes so you can turn your bowl of yoghurt and fresh fruit into a potion for the gut. All served with a smile in the sunny, floral and pink courtyard.

Little Touches

Turn down is a genuine treat. Neat piles of your clothes folded as if on sale in one of the high end fashion shops on Via dei Condotti and a nightly changing treat of Irene Forte sample products to lather on your face that guarantee you wake up looking a decade younger.

Rome’s history can be exhausting. Just thinking about those fellows who lugged tower blocks of single slab marble into eternal place at the Forum. Or, imagining the gladiators tackling one another and big cats emerging from the trap doors at the Colosseum. So a good night’s sleep in the city is of paramount importance. Unsurprisingly, the city has no shortage of options for the nine million international visitors it hosts every year, yet few hotels stand up to the grandeur of the city around them. Hotel de la Ville stands up, back straight and bosoms out. It stands out against its competition and it stands up to sister Hotel de Russie down the road.

Rooms cost from £600 a night Bed and Breakfast & Cocktails on the Terrace Bar, free for non-guests to visit start from £20