Valadier Hotel, Rome

...so I decided upon the Valadier hotel due to its reasonable prices, good write up on a few traveling websites and its location.

Set off on a cobbled side street off the Piazza del Popolo, the hotel has 60 guest rooms and is approximately 35km (approximately 21 miles) from Fuimicino Airport and is within walking distance of the Rome metro system and most of the main sights to see when visiting Rome. In terms of distance, the Spanish ...
...a hotel named after Giuseppe Valadier who designed the Piazza del Popolo in the early 1800s.

As I approached the front doors after finally finding the side street off the Piazza del Popolo I was filled with a sense of dread. I had paid 170 Euros (approximately £130) per night for a standard double room so was expecting a pretty top notch hotel only to be greeted by a rather dull façade that looked grimy and in need of a good sandblasting. ... more

You may wonder where I have been hiding the last past few days and I my absence is due to another very enjoyable stay in the beautiful city of Rome, a city fast becoming my favourite place on Earth. Instead of visiting on business I decided to take a short city break meaning that I could choose my own hotel and wasn't constrained by price. My favourite hotel in Rome is the Eurostars International Palace, a former Saladin villa located within the heart of historical Rome, but this hotel was fully booked so I decided upon the Valadier hotel due to its reasonable prices, good write up on a few traveling websites and its location.

Set off on a cobbled side street off the Piazza del Popolo, the hotel has 60 guest rooms and is approximately 35km (approximately 21 miles) from Fuimicino Airport and is within walking distance of the Rome metro system and most of the main sights to see when visiting Rome. In terms of distance, the Spanish Steps are only 0.5km (approximately 0.25 miles) away, the Trevi Fountain 1km (approximately 0.5 miles) away and Vatican City and St Peter’s Basilica is only 2.5km (approximately 1.5 miles) from the front doors of the Valadier.

The hotel is a former convent and is steeped in history, and was also a brothel until it was renovated in the 1950s and made into a hotel named after Giuseppe Valadier who designed the Piazza del Popolo in the early 1800s.

As I approached the front doors after finally finding the side street off the Piazza del Popolo I was filled with a sense of dread. I had paid 170 Euros (approximately £130) per night for a standard double room so was expecting a pretty top notch hotel only to be greeted by a rather dull façade that looked grimy and in need of a good sandblasting. The fears that I had booked myself into a duffer of a hotel were allayed as soon as I stepped into the lobby where my jaw preceded to hit the floor at the sheer design, class and sophistication of this area. The lobby sweeps out from the front doors down a set of steps to a gorgeous marble floor, so clean I could see my reflection. Checking in is done at a huge solid black marble desk and when I checked in at 3 in the afternoon there were no queues and two members of staff manning the desk. Despite the lack of a queue, they were not overly keen to check me in with any sort of speed and generally gave off the impression they would rather be anywhere but inside the hotel. I completed the checking in forms, let them swipe my credit card and asked for a wake up call every morning at 8 and for the Internet access in the room to be switched on and ready. These requests were met with grunts. Not good.

I was located on the third floor and throughout my 4 day stay all of the lifts were out of order so I had to drag my case up flight after flight of stairs. There was no offer of help from the staff who seemed to stand around idle watching their guests struggle.

Once I got to my room, somewhat breathless I had real problems opening the door with the keycard. It just wouldn’t open so another trek back to reception was required to discover that the receptionist had not activated it. At this stage steam was coming out of my ears. All I wanted to do was get into my room, have a shower, put my things away and try to relax and the staff seemed to be going out of their way to wind me up.

Once I was into the room my mood started to lift. The rooms are very bright, with Art Deco wood paneled walls and the computer was on with Internet Explorer waiting for me to use it as requested. This was the first hotel I had stayed in where they had use flat screen televisions attached to the wall to save on space and it worked to great effect. It was no effort to lie in bed watching television and having it tucked out of the way made diving around the room slightly under the influence of some fine wines a little less dangerous.

In the room was a full length window where if I strained my neck I could see about an inch of the Piazza del Popolo, a minibar, telephone, a chest of drawers which had the computer positioned on top and a narrow wardrobe. All of the essentials for a traveller and everything seemed nice and clean. The sheets on the bed were soft and smelt clean and the bed wasn’t uncomfortable, just the right amount of spring to enable me to sink into unconsciousness.

The bathroom was small and nothing exceptional. Again like most of the hotels I have visited in Rome there was no bath tub, but instead a bidet. Again, it was clean and the telephone positioned by the toilet was a nice touch. I ‘m sure it comes in very handy when struck down by food poisoning!

Trying to sleep in the room was no problem at all and I wasn’t disturbed by neighbouring rooms or noise from outside. In the mornings my wake up call came through at the requested time and as my stay progressed the staff even seemed to start to warm to me and became a little chatty. I wasn’t aware that the hotel had a rooftop terrace but the waiter in the morning recommended taking breakfast up there a least once. He was spot on with his comments about the rooftop terrace, once up there on the roof the stunning panoramic views of the city made the room rate worth the price alone.

Until I saw the rooftop terrace and took breakfast watching the city go by I felt as though I had paid a little too much for my stay at the Valadier hotel and considered cutting my visit short and looking for another hotel. Taking everything in consideration I would recommend the Valadier hotel for people visiting Rome for a long break 5+ days. The staff are a little hit and miss, but a majority of them do warm to guests, the rooms are lovely and its location is ideal for sight seeing and shopping. 

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