Hotel Vilòn in Rome

I stayed 6 nights in the Melangolo suite at Hotel Vilòn, one of two suites in the “Vilòn Terrace Suite Garden” category. [The other terrace suite is the Borghese Suite; I’ll compare the two later in the review, but I specifically requested the Melangolo suite at booking time because it has a fully separated living room & bedroom with doors, and my partner likes to stay up later than I do.]

Hotel Vilòn was recommended in the Flyertalk Luxury Hotels forum and highly rated on TripAdvisor as well. Overall, I was similarly happy with my visit, particularly the service!

Before booking, you have to recognize the tradeoffs of a small boutique hotel in a historical building: e.g. no gym or spa, one small elevator, rooms aren’t “high tech”, most rooms don’t have bathtubs, etc. But if you go in knowing what they can and can’t offer and are okay with the tradeoffs, I think you’ll be very happy!
 

The Melangolo Suite is room #201.  Overall the suite has high ceilings and is decorated in a somewhat-minimalist but tasteful art deco style with dark herringbone wood floors throughout. The walls can come off as plain white in pictures, but they actually have a subtle decorative pattern that is visible when the light catches at a certain angle.

You enter into a triangular separated living room with a couch, work desk, coffee / bar station and TV.  There are two split doors leading to the bedroom on either side of the couch.

The bedroom has two nightstands on either side of the bed with built-in power outlets, plus a platform bench along one wall and a TV.

The side of the bedroom has a triangular walk-in closet with a standing mirror, safe, a window and some hanging space and storage platforms. The minibar fridge is also in the closet (which is a bit unexpected).

Off of the living room is a bathroom with a very large shower, plus a separated water closet with a standalone bidet. The bathroom only has one vanity and not a lot of storage or counter space, but it does have a nice window and it’s not cramped.

Finally, the defining feature of the suite is the very large terrace (~335 sq ft) that overlooks the Palazzo Borghese’s rear gardens. The bedroom opens out to the terrace, which has a patio table and chairs on one side plus some lounge chairs at the other end.

Overall the room had almost everything I could want, and they used the triangular spaces pretty well IMO. The bathroom is the only part where I could use more counter space and storage.

Things I liked (other than the terrace / things already mentioned, etc.):

• I liked that the room was on the second floor so I could use the stairs and avoid the small slow elevator.
• Nice to have a window in the closet and the bathroom.
• In the bathroom there is a wall mounted radiator which is great for mornings.
• The hotel is in a quiet area on a quiet street.
• The bed, pillows and linens were all very comfortable.
• The closet standing mirror was handy.
• All of the pocket doors or split space saving doors operate smoothly, close up well and aren’t flimsy or wonky.

Most of the tradeoffs / things that might bother people are either related to the historical building or technology being quirky:

• The doors have actual keys, not key cards.
• The lighting controls / automation were quite weird. The panels had “mood”, “charm” and “bed” buttons. In some rooms these were like lighting scenes, controlling or dimming multiple lights, and pressing them repeatedly didn’t change anything. But in other rooms they were on/off toggles for specific lights. Then some lights were controlled by non-panel wall switches. I figured it out but I can imagine my parents would be befuddled.
• The HVAC temp control panel interface was strange and confusing, but the front desk can control everything remotely. They set it once at the start of my stay to my desired temp (20C) and I didn’t have to call again.
• The phone system was a bit strange. Calling the front desk always worked, but sometimes calling directly to room service or housekeeping would mysteriously not work, and I’d call the front desk and have them transfer me.
• Internet speed was “good enough”, but uploading was a bit slow. I’m used to synchronous 1Gbit at home so backing up tons of tourist photos took a while.
• There is a service elevator next to room #201 which you can hear from the living area and the bathroom, but not the bedroom.
• In general you can hear other people walking around upstairs or going up the stairs or vacuuming, etc. I’ve found this is pretty common in historical buildings.
• In the shower I needed to run the hot water for ~60 seconds to get to a stable final temp.

Overall, the room technology could be better, and could be confusing for some, but there weren’t any showstoppers for me. 

As mentioned earlier, there are two suites in the “Vilòn Terrace Suite Garden” category: Melangolo and Borghese. I specifically requested the Melangolo suite at booking time because the Borghese suite does not have a completely separated living area from the bedroom and when I travel with my partner I want to go to bed early while he stays up (and I get up earlier in the morning while he’s still sleeping).

That being said, I think most people would prefer the Borghese Suite if they choose one. The interior is larger and a lot of this square footage goes into a much larger bathroom with a freestanding tub, double vanities and much more counter space. It also has a much larger closet, although at some point there are diminishing returns; the closet in the Melangolo suite was large enough for us and we had a fair bit of luggage. The main aspects where the Melangolo Suite is better are 1) fully separated living room, and 2) the Melangolo suite has a much larger outdoor terrace.
 

The service is where things really stood out. I felt delighted with all aspects of the service. Things aren't overly formal but it felt warm and was extremely effective and consistent. The concierge was super responsive in the weeks before my stay and throughout my stay, booking transfers, tickets, massages, etc. 

They would always schedule cleanings by observing us leave via the lobby (and knowing what events we were going to). Turndown and regular cleanings always happened exactly as I’d expect. Everything I asked for was handled, etc.

The included breakfast was excellent, and it was undersold by the description "continental Italian Breakfast at Adelaide Restaurant.” To an American, “continental breakfast” is usually code for mediocre offerings, but this was anything but! They had a variety of ready-to-eat sweet and savory items, plus a full range of ordered items (like eggs). Everything I had was good to excellent, mostly excellent. I especially enjoyed the maritozzi and  the omelettes (prepared so the inside was creamy and the outside was toasty).

Since the hotel is so small and Adelaide is only open for lunch and dinner to the public, the entire bar / lounge and restaurant area is just for hotel guests until lunch. So the breakfast service is very relaxed and intimate, and there are no bills to sign. Most of the time during breakfast it was only us or one other table in the dining area.

Other than the included breakfast, I ate at Adelaide Restaurant and had room service a few times during my stay. Everything I had was good and most of it was surprisingly good for a hotel restaurant / room service. I also appreciated that the bills did not have a place to add a tip.

Aside from the rooms, the hotel is basically just a lobby, plus a bar / lounge and dining area for Restaurant Adelaide. There is no gym, so keep that in mind if it’s important to you. They don’t have a spa but can arrange in-room massages.

The hotel entrance is on a narrow, nondescript street and very inconspicuous. On arrival, our driver second guessed himself trying to find the entrance ("did I pass it?") because it is very subtle. Because of its location, the things are pretty isolated from noise and the terrace / garden rooms and suites afford views of the Palazzo Borghese rear gardens (not the Villa Borghese!).

Overall, Hotel Vilòn lived up to the recommendations on Flyertalk and high ratings on Tripadvisor. I especially appreciated the service, which was very attentive and effective. I definitely had a memorable stay!