Review: St. Regis Rome

"I also have nothing buy great things to say about the staff at this hotel"

But not buy 🙂

The restaurant and lounge are very impressive. It made me think that part of the renovation was their actual restaurant/lounge and they were using Banquet space as the restaurant.

Eh, check-in looks ghetto. The room looks a bit pretentious. I am never a fan of baroque style or architecture, so the rest of the hotel is a turnoff.

The only saving grace is probably the breakfast, free for SPG Plat's I take it? I think this is the only breakfast where I have seen peeled pairs available.

@ Nolan -- Fixed, thanks!

@ Ryan -- Indeed, breakfast could be chosen as the welcome amenity.

I love reviews with lots of photos and not many words.

Great and timely review, so thanks! We will be there in almost exactly a year.

Nice review. Have three nights booked next July. Renovation should be long completed.

Not a fan of the location, right by the train station, very busy streets, no? That's why quiet room was important.

The Westin is in the Via Veneto area, much more pleasant in the evening, further from the Coliseum but closer to the nicer parts of Rome. It's been a few years since I've been there, so not sure about the condition of the rooms these days.

Yeah its a central location but not a good location to be honest. I was there 2 months ago, and could see refugees all over the place, I was the only asian on the streets. Used to be a great place to hang out but not anymore. 🙁

My partner and I stayed here in January 2016 for 3 nights on SPG points in a standard room. We were assigned a third floor front-facing room. The view was a little better than Ben's, but the traffic noise was very annoying in the morning. We didn't dine at the hotel as we went equipped with a list of nearby restaurants. I think we received a very large package of cookies as a complimentary snack. And, the decor, as noted above, is very baroque. On the whole, it was ok, but next time we're in Rome, we'll stay elsewhere.

I was there early June during our family summer vacation. We were checked in on the older reception and it closed for renovation the next day. The breakfast restaurant is also hoing under renovation so we has breakfast on the same place you did. We got the same junior suite but with a standard room with connecting doors for the kids. Our suite had the same configuration but the shower was a ceiling mounted rain shower that was amazing. We noticed that both rooms had Remede products but the suite had bigger size bottles than the standard room. We loved our stay, service was outstanding and the location was perfect. I would always go back to this hotel while in Rome.

i'll be staying at Boscolo Exedra Roma (Autograph Collection of Marriott group) next mid July for approx EUR 330+tax (can change to lower if I shift from flex rate to prepaid rate), which is probably a better deal with EUR 550 for St Regis Rome, which only looks slightly better (both have essentially same customer rating at Expedia.com)

Overall, Rome's luxury points hotels underwhelm me. The Cavalieri is a great use of two free Hilton nights, but treatment was pretty lacking--even as HH Diamond. As it's technically a Waldorf, no suites/Imperial rooms for us (paging @DCS). Our Coliseum view was beautiful, but the location blows. Still searching for a great property in Rome to visit on our next stay... Thoughts, anyone?

@Jake P:

Portrait & JK are by far the best properties, but not on points obviously

Hmmm, is the first hotel in all of Lucky's reviews that offers champagne for breakfast?
This does make a difference in premium offerings.

Is there any other hotels that does so? [I remember Lucky mentioning Grand Hyatt Hong Kong serving Ruinart (all day? or just happy hour?) in their club lounge, but that is all?]

I stayed at this hotel about two weeks prior to your stay, the current restaurant and lounge are part of the ballroom areas of the hotel normally. I thought they were really well done as makeshift replacements. I completely concur with you about the quality of the breakfast, some of the most delicious eggs I have ever had! As you mentioned the Front desk was friendly and efficient. Housekeeping as well. We had one little problem with one concierge, which surprised me because normally I find the concierge staff at this type of hotel to be flawless.

We were told that once the lobby renovations are completed, supposedly October 1, shortly thereafter, that half the hotel rooms will be closed to start room renovations, when that is finished, they will begin the other half.

@JakeP

Also have a look at the De Russie & Parco dei Principi. Although I don't think they're bookable on points either.

Stayed here ~10 yrs ago on honeymoon and it was disappointing for the service, despite being Starwood Plat. Very pretentious. Location requires more walking to interesting sights. Stayed at the Westin on subsequent visit ~5 yrs later with young child in tow and found the service and location to be far better.

Stayed at Cavalieri as well a couple times in the last ~3 yrs...meh. Beautiful but WAY too far away and inconvenient. I'm with JAKE P, still searching for a better option in a city we love visiting!

As Marcello recommended, De Russie is a contemporary, albeit expensive alternative to the baroque splendor of St Regis and Westin Excelsior. For tourists, the location of the Hassler is unrivalled, being atop the Spanish Steps. Nearby is the Portrait Suites, owned by the Ferragamo family (retail chain of same name), which is expensive but beautifully understated, with the best location for shopping.

@Jake P @ Ron

I don't know, sure the Cavalieri is a bit out of the way but that view is priceless. Also thought the club lounge was quite nice, as well as the pool setup.

I'm in Rome at the present time and was looking enviously at your review but frankly I would never stay at that location. I looked at using points from all the chain hotels but none of them are in either great or convenient areas. I think Rome is one of those cities where it's best to be in the location you want and fork out cash for one of the many unique hotels.

@Jane I couldn't agree more. The most interesting parts of Rome are also the oldest and offer the fewest hotel-chain choices. We stay at the Smeraldo near Campo dei Fiori when we visit. The Smeraldo is hardly a fancy hotel, and it is not super cheap either. But its location is outstanding and the rooms are clean and serviceable. The morning market in Campo dei Fiori and the proximity to Piazza Navona, my favorite square in Rome, are just two sights that are nearby. I shake my head at those who come to Rome and stay on the Via Veneto (where a few chains lurk) or where Ben stayed. No thanks.

Thanks for the Timely Review. In a month I plan to stay at the St. Regis or the Boscolo Exedra (TomSan's comments not withstanding). With the ability for me as a Platinum (MR Plat who is now SPG Plat) to book SPG or Marriott with the points transfers option, I can't decide between the two hotels.

St. Regias Jr. Suite for 67,500 SPG or a standard redemption of 135,000 MR (with option for upgrade) at the Boscolo Exedra, and the possibility I may be upgraded. I have the points for both.

Any advice?

I hope they don't destroy the classic character of this hotel as part of the renovations. One of my fav. NYC hotels, the Intercontinental Barclay, has been utterly destroyed by its most recent renovation, to the point that I won't stay there. It was getting quite worn before the renovation, but it just needed some refreshing. Instead, they've wiped any classic character from the place.

Hotel De Russie is nice (fantastic back garden restaurant), but had the hardest beds I've ever slept on. It was like sleeping on plywood.

Had a cash+points stay at the St. Regis Rome recently. Somewhere in the room my partner found a Key-holder with a guest's name on it that was dated back in 2008. We thought it was a funny remnant from the past, and gave it to the front desk agent upon checkout (as a joke).

Days later there was an email from Vincenzo Falcone, the hotel general manager, apologizing and clearly mortified that this card had been left in the room all these years. He then proceeded to write that the entire charge for our stay had been refunded to my cc (circa 475 euros) as well as 10,000 SPG points. He concluded the email by attaching the credit note for the refund.