Breston

Hi folks,

me and soon-to-be Mrs. Breston will go to Rome for our honeymoon. We want to go from 30.12.-4.1., so out stay will include New Year's Eve. The stay will be paid for with points, making use of the fifth night free.

Well - there are three Starwood Properties available for 20.000 points a night: the Excelsior, the Eden and the St.Regis Grand. Which one will be best suited for our needs?

Being it a honeymoon stay, the hotel and the room are more important than proximity to sightseeing sites. I personally care for space - the bigger the room, the better usually. Being Platinum, I therefore definitely hope for an upgrade. In which of the properties will the chances be better? Right now, there seem to be several room categories available in each of the hotels.

Furthermore, which of the hotels do you consider to be more appropriate for a romantic stay? I do like the Westin Heavenly Bed, however, somewhere in the thread I read that there are only twin beds available at the Excelsior, now "real" King size beds?

Any comments will be appreciated. If someone knows about what to do on New Year's Eve in Rome, I would be grateful for any recommendations as well.

Breston

NoSleepTillMnhtn

Just returned from Roma, had a one night stay (Saturday 3/05/11) at the Westin. Made reservation the morning of, so even my own mileage might have varied (MOMMV?).

Check In:
Overwhelming Plat recognition by the desk. Staff mentioned Plat amenities many times and personal thanks for staying at hotel (and I've never been there before). I casually stated "first time in Rome, can't wait to see what kind of room you have set aside for me!" Staff said "oh yes, we have a really nice room for you." Agent listed all perks, which I will list below. After check-in, staff actually walked me all the way to the room (quite big hotel) and left quick enough as to not expect a tip. Guy was asking me what it is like to stay at the Ws in the states as only Milan is getting one late 2011 .

Room:
As agent walked me to room, he apologized for room and said I should come back again in the future when he hopes they could assign me to a new room (not sure what that mean at the time). Jr. Suite in the un-renovated/old part of hotel. Size-wise, it was about the same as any standard room is in the US, but in Europe, I guess I couldn't really compare. Room did open up to a balcony with a view of not much (opposite side from via Veneto), but still, a balcony for a cheapest available rate was a big plus. Classic styling, chandelier, creeky floor... nice, but not what I expected for a room that was listed at 1,250 euros max. Did appreciate that it was the standard Westin bed and pillows, which I dearly needed after 10 days of Euro hotels/B&Bs with beds as hard as plywood and pillows as thin as crepes.

Perks:
Choice of Wine Bottle, Bowl of Fruit (was given just 5 Clementines, but were delicious), US$10 mini-bar, Local Gift (scheduler at the time), or 500 pnts.
20% off Bar/Restaurant/Stores/Health Wellness
Free Internet

Overall, I probably wouldn't stay here again based on value comparison. If I had been upgraded to another room, maybe would think different, but it is one of the pricer properties in Roma in a fairly boring neighborhood of expense accounts and Maseratis.

Flews

Boring? You obviously didn't take the five minute walk over to the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capuchin_Crypt

Cheers,

alanslegal

I haven't been there (let alone Rome) but that's some scary sh** there

However I am booked to visit Rome at the end of July and have reservations at the St Regis. Is there anything around the St Regis? Decent value restaurants, cafes? decent night activity etc? Or should I just go straight to the Westin?

LovetoTravel83

Both of them are close to each other, to me the St. Regis is always a high standard hotel, where the Westin to me is well not so much.

At the St. Regis I recieved a newly renovated junior suite upgrade.

Flews

I prefer the Westin but the St. Regis is a lovely hotel. They reallly aren't all that far apart. I can't remember the names of any of the little restaruants we found and liked - let me do some checking to refresh my memory from my trip last fall. There are some good tips on the master hotel threads in this forum, and also other forums.

As for nightlife, Mrs. Flews and I are not late night people; others can give you better advice. Our idea of fun is a long, late evening walk, maybe grabbing a gelato somewhere. Rome at night is safe and beautiful, especially around the better known piazzas and tourist sights, where its busy and well lit even at midnight.

Cheers,

leahsandman

I am an SPG Gold member and am planning a trip to Rome 3/12. I had been planning on staying at the Westin Excelsior (despite extrememly mediocre reviews on Tripadvisor) because it was 12K points a night and the Eden and St. Regis were each 20K points.

As of March 1, the Westin is also 20K, so I'm trying to decide where to stay. I have seen nice reviews of all, some comments on the locations not being great. We are not planning on late nights out so we're not looking for night life. We plan on seeing major sights, it's my spouse's 1st time in Rome and will plan on walking a lot, probably taking the metro less, and can use a cab when we want/need to. We want to be able to go to dinner in the evening, really just sightsee.

The luxury of the St. Regis is appealing, but most important is our overall experience in Rome and I think that location contributes more to that.

I'd love some feedback, thank you.

SensFan

The SPG forum has a master thread with information on each hotel. You can check it out here - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...read-list.html.

Here is a thread on what you are after - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...etter-etc.html.

sk3

I see you're a newer FTer, welcome! There are many, many existing posts on this topic of comparing Rome SPG properties that you can read by doing a search. [As I've been typing this I see another FTer has provided you with some links]

But the short answer, IMO, is that all 3 of these properties will equally suit your needs in terms of location. Rome is relatively small, familiarize yourself with Google's map and find the sites you're most interested in visiting - then see that all 3 of these hotels are in the north eastern part of the "Centro Storico". Now if one of these properties was near Piazza Navona, Largo Argentina or even Piazza Venezia then location would definitely factor in to your decision. But there are really only slight advantages/disadvantages between the Excelsior and STR location wise, and the Eden is very close to the Excelsior, just down the street. One could argue that the Eden is closest to the Spanish steps area - but only by a few minutes of walking time.

I had always favored the Excelsior since it required less points, but now that all 3 require the same amount I'd make my choice based on how SPG elites have been treated in the past and the accommodations themselves - as opposed to location.

I hope you enjoy your trip, Rome is my favorite city in the world.

mfdii

I'm stopping over in Rome with the wife for a day before heading over to Sardinia. I can't decide on the Westin, St Regis, or Hotel Eden. They all cost the same as far as points go, and the reviews all sound great.

Any suggestions?

mahasamatman

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...etter-etc.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...er-thread.html

3dot14

I would pick St Regis over Westin. But have no experience at Eden.

Stayed in both in 2010 August, both were on Free Nights.

St Regis is easier to access via transit (Grand is closer to Republica than Westin to Barberini) and consequently closer to rail Termini.

St Regis has prettier lobby and interior in my opinion. (Not a big fan of checkered floor in Excelsior.) But YMMV.
St Regis upgraded us (I am Plat) to a junior suite with a separate living room, balcony (sadly facing courtyard) and dressing area, but the whole thing was meant as one room. Westin gave us a double-room. (don't mean double beds, I meant two rooms adjointed as one, one serves as bedroom, the other living room. I've always found that arrangement awkward.) So I liked St Regis' room better.

No complaints for service for either. Although the St Regis butler service is a slight advantage. (Free juice and coffee in bed in the morning, amongst other things.) (I think this is a hotel benefit, not a plat benefit, but not certain.)

Zurich Flyer

I had an open booking for the Cavalieri with a Q3FN but when I realized the cheapo rates at the FP Sheraton Roma West I canceled the Cavalieri and booked the latter

Out of my Element

We did the Eden 2 years ago, on C+P, and they gave us a very nice upgrade.

Excellent service as well, as the concierge got us museum tickets in advance when needed, and told us not to bother when it didn't matter to have them in advance.

Only place we've stayed where by the second time we hit the lobby they were calling us by name.

Freddy2010

Hi Fters,
I am foreign to Rome and I have a three-night stay there. I booked Cavalieri for the first night but are left with 2 nights with no idea where to stay (wanna stay within USD300). Love to tour around the city for the first time. With PC Gold, Marriott Silver, and Hilton Diamond status, what may be a good choice of hotel for the 2 nights? THANKS so much!