My husband and I stayed 4 nights in a Junior Suite at the St Regis Rome to begin our European holiday. We continued with 3 nights at the Hotel Imperial Vienna, 3-4 nights at the Prince de Galles Paris, and 1 night for me at the London Edition as a last minute addition due to a French ATC strike.

We really enjoyed the St Regis Rome. The hotel is undergoing the final stages of a massive renovation, and almost half of the rooms and all of the suites and speciality suites were off-line during our stay. Most of the public spaces, however, have finished their renovation--and truly are spectacular. 

We knew in advance that many rooms and most suites would be off-line. As a result, wanting at least to be assured of a junior suite and not wanting to risk a smaller room, we unusually directly booked the junior suite with 60,000 points/night instead of using Suite Night Awards and hoping for a less likely upgrade. So we got exactly what we booked.

The hotel truly is beautiful. Walking into the newly renovated lobby is truly spectacular:

To the right is reception and concierge:

To the left is the grand staircase and elevators behind that:

Walking into the lobby, however, is where you really discover how spectacular the renovation has been:

The dining and bar area:

The opposite seating area:

The view from inside our favorite room adjacent to the dining area, where we enjoyed our first evening's drinks and several breakfast moments:

Closer view of the bar:

More of the bar/restaurant seating:

In the back hallway was another old time elevator and staircase. I love the old elevators!

The public spaces truly have been done to spectacular effect, perfectly combining the native Roman and historical elements but in a very modern, fresh and inviting way.  We absolutely loved the effect and impact.

Having subsequently visited the Hassler, Eden, Russie, and Manfredi hotels on our travels around the city, we can say without reservation that the St Regis lobby and public spaces have no equal in Rome.

Check In

Check in was easy and quick despite our late 11 pm arrival. The front desk staff and bellman clearly were expecting us, and promptly completed the check in formalities and got us right up to our junior suite.

Room

The junior suite was not a renovated version. Still, we appreciated its spaciousness and traditional style--though we very much look forward to a future stay, having seen the newly renovated public spaces and absolutely loving the new, fresher style! 

The biggest weakness for the junior suite was the bath--it was a bit narrow and less spacious than the rest of the suite. Still, it worked quite well for us most of the time.

On the other hand, the air conditioning worked wonders. It easily hit 18 C, though I compromised with my husband for 19 C. 

The entry into the suite:

Not pictured is the hallway closet on the left and the door into the bath (which opens on the other side into the bedroom area).

The bedroom area was separated only be a reasonably spaced open doorway, offering reasonable separation between the living room and bedroom areas.

The bedroom are was lovely, with a bit more space than the photos suggest. We particularly appreciated the fresco above the bed--it really made us feel like we were in Rome.

There was ample closet space for both us, surprisingly.

The bedroon area had one doorway into the bath, and the other end of the bath had another doorway into the entry hallway of the junior suite.

The view from the entry hallway into the bathroom:

As you can see, the bath was narrow and had but a single vanity. We can hope that the rooms and suites renovation will provide double vanities for at least most rooms and suites, though limits are not unusual for historical buildings of this nature.

The view into the bath from the bedroom:

The vanity:

Not pictured was a small alcove with a cabinet across from the vanity, with a convenient shelf above which my husband used to store his toiletries. 

The shower and bath area:

The shower was a bit small but perfectly functional. Water pressure was adequate, but we can hope for increased pressure with the renovation!

As usual, my Ambassador and the hotel had a lovely welcome amenity waiting for us, too:

Since we arrived at night, the next morning showed us the natural light that did cover the suite--though we assume they will be eliminating the heavy fabric window coverings in the renovation!

Our view was into the central courtyard--nothing special, but it did preclude there being any noise at all while we slept!

For our last evening, the Guest Relations Manager with whom I'd spoken sent us up a departure amenity:

The junior suite worked very well with us, actually. Despite the weakness of the less spacious bath, we really found the junior suite to be quite comfortable for us. While the decor was dated and more traditional than our taste, we expect from the public space renovations that the renovated rooms should be pretty wonderfully designed. We can't wait to get back to see them!

Service

Service was very good, albeit not perfect.

Overall, we were very pleased. Everyone from the bellmen, valets, reception, concierge, housekeeping, food and beverage were incredibly friendly and welcoming. Others' reports suggesting pretentiousness or formality were not at all what we experienced--and I arrived in shorts!

The highest point for me: after realizing I'd packed ill-fitting shorts, the butler and amazing housekeeping team moved the button so they perfectly fit me. No charge. Just handled. Sublime.

Other high points: butler service was impeccable, bar service was always excellent, restaurant service was usually excellent, and housekeeping was perfect and invisible.

I know many are confused by the butler service at St. Regis, but I always adore it. The butler service here was exemplary. I already mentioned how the chief butler helped organize with housekeeping to fix my ill-fitting shorts. The butlers also unpacked for us on arrival and packed for me the night before departure, something I absolutely hate doing myself. They very promptly brought us morning coffee and snacks every morning. They checked in and followed up with us whenever we had any questions. They gave us a few local recommendations that turned out to be lovely. Truly wonderful.

Concierge is where we had both low and high points. The concierge team has been in constant and responsive communication with me for months in advance to plan our stay. Our request--months in advance--for a dinner reservation at Le Pergola was not made; however, the jacket requirement there likely would have precluded us from going. Still, this was for me a big fail. However, the concierge team did come through for us with advance reservations at 2* Il Pagliaccio, 1* Imago (at the Hassler), 1* La Terraza (at the Hotel Eden), and 1* Aroma (at the Palazzo Manfredi). We ultimately canceled Imago due to its jacket requirement.

The concierge team was excellent in communication in advance, and worked wonders when I changed course. They helped arrange our private walking tour of the city, our private early VIP tour of the Vatican, and a private visit out of town to Hadrian's Villa and Tivoli gardens (which we canceled without issue a mere week before our stay).

The concierge team did fail to advise me of the long shirt requirement at La Terraza. Considering how I'd mentioned to them of my aversion to jackets and my terror of feeling too warm, I'd have expected them to warn me of the long shirt requirement; they didn't. I arrived at La Terrazza and was asked to wear a jacket to hde the short sleeves, so I instead quickly returned to the StR for a change of shirt. I was a bit miffed at the StR concierge, but the La Terraza dinner was so amazing that the change was well worth the effort. Still, a fail and learning moment for the concierge team.

We also had a dumb low point on our arrival when we asked for something from the room service menu to be delivered to our table in the bar area. The servers insisted that was not possible. We were miffed, but we demurred; the staff did have our tiramisu orders ready and waiting for us in our suite, beautifully presented, on our return, however. Later discussion with the Guest Relations Manager made it clear that was a mistake and a training issue. 

So we did have a few service misses. But overall our service was usually excellent. Considering the team was operating the hotel in the midst of a major renovation, I'd say that's pretty impressive, actually. The Eden and Hassler and many other comparable luxury properties close entirely during renovations, after all. I'm glad I had the opportunity to stay at the St Regis even during the renovation, and I'm excited to see how improved everything will be once the renovation is completed. 

I'm a tough customer and expect great service when we stay at a luxury hotel. The St Regis wasn't perfect, but we still feel they delivered great service overall. The true testament to that fact is that we absolutely would return for any future stays in Rome--and can't wait to do so. 

Dining

Food and beverage were outstanding.

Our first evening, we had drinks at the bar but wanted to sit in the beautiful room adjacent; the barman simply moved the breakfast pre-set and invited us to sit there. 

Even though our tiramisus weren't able to be delivered to us bar-side, they were delivered to us in our suite--and they were delicious!

Our breakfasts were wonderful. The breakfast buffet was wonderful, located in the room directly behind the bar--allowing the beautiful lobby area to serve as the breakfast (and lunch) restaurant space. I imagine there will another restaurant space opened when the renovations are completed.

The breakfast buffet:

The omelette station, critical to us as we love our eggs:

The selections were vast and of excellent quality:

My traditional 5 egg white omelette was delicious:

As a Starwood Platinum guest, I didn't have to pay for breakfast. Truly a remarkable benefit. I don't know what the price was for other guests, but I can say that the breakfast offerings here were about as outstanding as they have been for us anywhere. 

We also had drinks at the bar every night we were here. We absolutely love the bar and lobby space and had fantastic service. The drinks were always great, as well.

Wonderful food and beverage!

Location

We found the St Regis location to be surprisingly excellent, considering others' reports that it somehow wasn't well located. It was located very close to all the sights without being in the midst of the tourist hordes. 

We walked right by the overrated Trevi fountain to the even more overrated Spanish Steps and Hassler Hotel...in 10-15 minutes. It was an easy 10 min walk and mere 4-5 min taxi ride to the Hotel Eden (where we had dinner at La Terraza).

We took at 15-20 min taxi ride to Il Pagliaccio for dinner.

We took a 10-15 min taxi ride to both the Coliseum and the nearby Palazzo Manfredi (where we had dinner at Ristorante Aroma). We took a 20 min taxi ride to the Vatican City. 

While we didn't use the train, the hotel is an easy 10 min walk or 5 min taxi ride from the Central train station. 

Excellent central location. 

Concierge

While we discussed the concierge above in service, it is worthwhile to discuss the concierge team on its own. Overall, the concierge team handled things very well. They were extremely responsive with communication before and during our stay. They adapted to our changes in itinerary without issue. They were very helpful in helping us choose activities and excursions. They easily got us dinner reservations at some of the toughest gets in the city at Il Pagliaccio, Imago, La Terraza, and Aroma.

They did fail in getting us the La Pergola reservation--but that can be a tough get, we know. They did fail to advise me about the long sleeve requirement at Le Terraza, but then I'm sure few people would think to wear short sleeves in the first place. 

They did miss giving us an outline of our planned itinerary and reservations on our arrival evening, but they did give us that (and subsequent reminders) for every other day. 

Overall, the concierge team did an outstanding job for a difficult and demanding customer. They weren't perfect, but I have confidence that they will be even better for our next visit.

For those interested in the excursions, here are our thoughts and a few photo highlights:

(1) The private city tour was expensive but totally worth it for us. (Cost 230 euros for first 3 hours, 70 euro per hour additional.) If nothing else, we avoided standing in lines. We covered the highlights: the Coliseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, and walking around the city a bit. 

(2) The Vatican Early Morning Tour cost 570 euros and seemed a rip...until we saw the line to get in when we finished. In the end, we are glad we avoided the even larger crowds and had some peaceful moments to enjoy the the Vatican, the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's, the Sistine Chapel, etc. But if we see another fresco ever again, it still will be too damn soon.

And just try to tell me that this statue doesn't remind you of Kuato from (the original) Total Recall movie?

(3) The view restaurants are very good...and worth the meal and views. While we didn't enjoy Imago due to their jacket requirement, we loved the views from La Terraza and even more from Aroma, shown below:

Overall

We really enjoyed our stay at the St Regis Rome. Despite the fact that renovation was still ongoing for the rooms/suites and some behind the scenes public spaces we couldn't see, we rarely felt that there was any renovation going on at all. Only once did we hear any banging at all, and that was later in the morning. Call me impressed!

We absolutely loved the new design and decor of the newly renovated public spaces, and yet still really enjoyed our comfortable junior suite. We cannot wait to come back when the rooms and suites are completed.

We had very good service, and we very much enjoyed our time in Rome. We had the chances to see the Hassle, Eden, Manfredi, and Russie in the course of our sojourns, and we still loved the St. Regis. Not to take anything away from the other properties--they all were lovely and also showed excellent service (and in the case of the Eden, tremendous dining at La Terrazza).

But we'd return to the St. Regis Rome in a heartbeat. Many thanks to the entire team there. We definitely look forward to our return!