Hotel La Rovere - Via di Sant'Onofrio 4 00165 - Rome (three Stars)
INTRODUCTION:
Well this was my second trip to the Eternal City and I wanted to be a little closer than last time to some of the sights we wanted to see. So with the aid of the internet and Autoroute I found a hotel that looked OK and was fairly close to the Vatican and Castle d'Angelo - the Hotel la Rovere. The description made it sound like a reasonable hotel though not the cheapest and the pictures of the rooms looked OK too.
We took a taxi from the airport - those of you who have done this will know that there are more thrills in a taxi ride in Rome than any theme park ride! So scary I hardly opened my eyes to see some of the sites we were passing. Luckily it is not a hugely long trip and our taxi pulled up rather hesitantly in front of a flat fronted building and our driver said "err here you are". Well it certainly wasn't a very imposing frontage for a hotel but it seemed to be the right place. At least one internet site describes the building as "a small 19th century palace". Well you could have fooled me - but then the Church of St. Peter in Chains looks like an old warehouse from the outside and yet it houses Michelangelo's beautiful sculptor of Moses, so we decided not to judge this book by it's cover! The owners had done the best they could with the outer appearance given the style of the building itself - little canopies over the windows for instance.
Inside the main door is a fairly small, but very clean and beautifully decorated reception area with an extremely friendly and welcoming receptionist behind the desk. Speaking very good English, she smiled at my halting attempts at Italian but did manage to understand that I was trying to say we had pre-booked a room. She got someone to show us to our room - now this is an experience as the lift isn't very big and I get rather claustrophobic!
There are I think just 20 rooms in this hotel over four floors. We were on the top floor of the hotel but unfortunately had booked too late to grab of the rooms with a balcony. However, our air conditioned room had two windows, one overlooking a private terrace and one with views over the river - see photos. This window had a small railing outside presumably to prevent us falling out as you could open the window right up and almost feel like you were out on a balcony. The rooms was quite small but very adequate for our needs (see picture), having an en-suite shower room - again fairly small but with plenty of hot water so did the job for which it was intended. The only problem was that due to the way that Italian plumbing is built and our location at the top, we did now and then get a bit of a "sewerage" smell in the bathroom. It did not permeate to the bedroom however so we could cope with this with a spray of perfume. The rooms were kept extremely clean and were nicely decorated and the bed was comfortable. The bedrooms are not totally soundproof unfortunately as half way through our stay a very noisy couple took the room adjacent to us, but long walks through Rome and a good dinner and some vino made sure they did not prevent us sleeping. There was a small TV in the room with one English speaking channel (CNN I think) and a small fridge in which we could keep juices, vino etc. Also a hairdryer and small safe and mini bar. I believe the rooms have internet connection now also.
There is a terrace for the use of guests on the second floor (I think) but we did not bother using it as we were out in Rome for most of the time.
BREAKFAST:
A simple breakfast was available included in the room price - not always the case in continental hotels - there was an adequate supply of croissants, cheese, ham, cereals, fruits, yogurts, as well as a cappuccino made for each person who wanted one. The room in which this was served was small so when the hotel was full you had to be quick to get a table but, it was clean and again very nicely decorated.
The breakfast room doubles as the bar, but we did not use this service so I cannot comment on prices or service - though I would be surprised if the service was not excellent.
STAFF:
All the staff were extremely helpful and friendly. They liked my attempts to speak their language, though most of them had either very good or adequate English for it not to be necessary. They helped me when I was not sure of the correct Italian word or pronunciation, I think they were quite amused at my efforts but pleased I was making the effort. If you wanted to know something they tried to find the answer, whether it be directions or for booking a taxi to the airport. As we were leaving Rome quite late on our last day, they looked after our luggage for us after we had checked out too. Something that not all smaller hotels will do.
LOCATION:
The hotel is literally down a little alleyway, so you can miss it if you are not looking out for it. It is close to the river and about 10 minutes walk from the Vatican. The Travestere district is only about 15-20 minutes walk away with plenty of good restaurants. We found a good restaurant not far from the Vatican - again about 15-20 minutes walk from the hotel. We did not need to take any public transport during our stay as we could walk to everything we wanted to see from this hotel. If I remember rightly, the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain were approx 30 minutes walk.
There is a small grocery store nearby where you can buy wine, cheeses, bread, meats etc etc, which we did one night and dined in our room looking out over the city.
It is about 35km from Ciampino Airport and 25km from Leonardo da Vinci Airport There is no subway close to the hotel but there are buses - number 64 or 40 from the Termini Railway Station which is about 31/2 km from the Hotel. If driving you take Exit 1 (Aurelia - direction San Pietro) from the Grande Raccordo Anulare. I do not think the hotel had its own car park however but I think you may be able to rent garage space nearby - I suggest e-mailing the hotel in advance if you want to do this - though frankly a car in Rome is a waste as you can walk everywhere very easily!
Oh yes - behind the hotel is a hill that I recommend you go up - if you look on the tourist map it lists nothing up there, but right at the top is a large monument to Garibaldi. But also there is a really beautiful view of Rome - well worth the climb and you use loads of calories so that you can eat that extra slice of real Rome pizza for lunch.
PRICES:
These are probably a little more than other small continental hotels - an approximate guide is:
90 - 150 euros for a single person in a double room, 130-230 for a double and 165-255 for a superior double; triple rooms are from 150-280 euros. The price of course depends on what time of year you book and whether you can get one of the many internet deals offered nowadays.
RECOMMENDATION:
Well as I said it was three years ago that we went, but hopefully it is still in the same ownership. Given the standard of service, friendliness of the staff and cleanliness of the rooms, together with the very good location, I would definitely stay here again - indeed we intend to do so on our next trip to Rome and I would recommend this hotel to others also.
La Rovere, Rome
The Hotel La Rovere is located in a small 19th century palace close to the Vatican walls
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in the heart of Rome. Its central location means that guests can explore the historic city on foot. Facilities include a terrace and bar and room service is availa...
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