Spagna Royal Suite, Rome

Our hotel in Rome couldn't have been located any better. Spagna Royal Suite was on Via Frattina (parallel to the fashionable shopping street, Via Condotti) and  Via Mario de' Fiori. 

 

 heart-shaped sugar sachets

On one end of Via Frattina is Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish steps,  and on the other side is Via del Corso. Via Frattina also leads right into Piazza San Lorenzo Lucina, where the Carabinieri building is, and Ciampini, the bar and ice cream shop we weren't able to try five years ago.

Spagna Royal Suites is an 11-room hotel located on four floors of an old historic building. The lobby is on the 4th level.  

Massimo, the proprietor, told us that the hotel is a work in progress. He was able to get a long term lease from the church (owners of the building!),  and is slowly taking over apartments in the building as their leases come to an end. He doesn't have the whole building yet.

 

Good thing we had ourselves picked up from the airport because the hotel is not well-marked. This big green door below is the front door that leads to a carport, and then to the stairwell and lift. They don't even have a sign outside.

The only indication that this is a hotel is the name on the buzzer

"Please don't mind the entrance of the building, the atmosphere upstairs in the hotel is very different from down here," Massimo told us.

It was a pleasant surprise to enter a stylish little lobby upstairs.

We shared a room with the kids. This room was actually two rooms in one, sharing a bathroom, with only the headboard as the division. This is a clever design for two siblings sharing a bedroom. 

Having the sinks outside was practical because it didn't tie up the bathroom

  Our side of the room

 

 square toilets are uncomfortable

The walls of the room were upholstered, the sofa very comfortable and the tiles were beautiful.

The other rooms were as meticulously designed too.

Via Mario de' Fiori below

 Ceiling details

The regular rooms are not very big.

Some are more elaborate than others. Look at this forest room...

 hallway in the "nature" floor, so many textures going on here.

There was talahib on the walls.

Illuminated deer heads as sconces!

 rustic sink in the forest room

heavy sound-proof doors

Massimo conceptualizes the spaces himself, and it's executed by an an interior designer.

In this other room, there was a bathtub behind the headboard and mirrors around the room.

What I found unusual were the lack of hooks and luggage racks. Our suitcases were just on the floor so the room never looked neat.

 

some smaller rooms didn't have room for suitcases, but they did have soundproof doors!

When I mentioned to Milko (who seemed like the manager) that the rooms were very nice, but could use some hooks and luggage racks, he agreed with the hooks but of the luggage racks he said "oh, but we are not that kind of hotel."   Really? Hmmm... what kind of a hotel *is* this?

It took a couple of days and more observations to finally realize that this hotel is designed to be a romantic hotel! I'm usually quick to pick up these nuances, but as my mind was on sharing room with kids, being with extended family and in-laws, it took me a few days to "get it".

Once I thought "Romantic hotel"--everything made sense. Even the heart-shaped sugar packets in the breakfast room!

We found this hotel on "Booking.com" and it was the only hotel that could accept our large group at such a late booking date. Even if it had good reviews, we were nervous.

The first floor hallway is lined with aquariums, for those with fishy fantasies.

 

It must be fun to think of different design details for each room.

The beds were very comfortable, and the staff friendly and  accommodating, and wifi worked very well too.

 The small, imtimate breakfast room

We had nothing to be nervous about.  The kids liked going to their cousins' rooms to check out the quirky design details.

It must've been a bit disorienting for the staff to see our big group with kids descend on their romantic hotel.

We had a good time here. I hope we didn't ruin the ambience for the other couples who were on a romantic Roman holiday though!


Spagna Royal Suite Rome ® 
Via Mario de' Fiori 3, 00187 Rome Italy
Tel: +39 06 69923793 Fax: +39 06 69290948
Email: info@spagnaroyalsuite.com