During the second half of our Rome visit, we stayed at the Westin Excelsior Hotel in Rome. The Westin Excelsior Hotel 5-star hotel is located along the Via Veneto, near the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, Villa Borghese gardens and the Capuchin Convent. It is conveniently located next door to the U.S. Embassy. In fact, there are several 5-star hotels on the same street. Pretty ritzy hotel and neighborhood indeed. And it’s walking distance or cab ride away from the Colosseum which as we know is a must visit iconic attraction. We took the Roman Guy’s Tour of the Top Level of the Colosseum which I highly recommend.
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The Westin Excelsior is hard to miss given its design. It definitely stands out on the street that is for sure. I can only describe the Westin Excelsior Hotel as exemplifying the old school 5-star style and charm with its ritzy crystal chandeliers, gigantic flower vases filled with beautiful flowers, a luxurious sitting lounge with the requisite piano player and all that fabric covered walls. Very Italian Rococo (I think that’s correct style.) It’s hard not to be impressed if you are used to modern designed hotels.
Our spacious hotel room included two twin size beds. It might have been twin beds but boy were they both extremely comfortable. The room came with the classic “Heavenly Beds” and my daughter were both happy to jump into bed at the end of a hot day of walking around Rome.
Who knew but my teenage daughter who has stayed in many a hotel was super impressed by our room. Was it the fabric colored walls, the glitzy furniture so hard to say but she was snapchatting away the minute we entered the room!!
And she was impressed with the size of the bathroom. She has stayed in nice hotels in Paris and London but the bathroom was huge compared to those hotels. She even made a comment and she never makes a comment about the bathroom.
For me, I enjoyed staying at the Westin Excelsior Hotel with for the amenities like my plush robes and slippers. And it was nice to take a hot bath after a long day traipsing around Rome.
As a Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) member, I received a free pot of coffee which was lovely on the days we weren’t up super early to get to our tours. The fact that there was no teapot to make coffee or tea made me a bit cranky on the days we had to out super early, that really should be a standard amenity.
Of course, I was happy to enjoy our free bottles of water. We did not opt for the hotel breakfast which I found at $35 Euros to be insanely exorbitant. That is truly a rich person or business traveler’s price for breakfast. We chose to have an American breakfast at a nearby restaurant for $10 Euros. I do wish we could have just picked up an espresso and cornetto to go for those early morning starts.
I do like that the hotel offered a pool, even though it was small by U.S. hotel standards, it served the purpose of keeping my daughter entertained letting her cool off after a day of sightseeing.
Doney Restaurant
We opted to dine at the hotel restaurant, “Doney” which has both sidewalk tables and a formal dining room. It was blazing hot so we ate inside. According to the website, the dress is supposed to be formal which might account for the glance we got when we arrived. But they did seat us inside and were very nice. I think mentioning I was a guest at the hotel helped.
I will say this the restaurant prices are pretty much what you would expect from a 5-star hotel. That said, we enjoyed our meal. I had the opportunity to eat for the first time on our trip, baked squash blossom flowers filled with Caciofiore cheese. We both opted for pasta, it was lunch after all. My daughter enjoyed Tonnarelli pasta with Roman PDO Pecorino cheese and I had Gragnano spaghetti with Vesuvius cherry tomatoes and basil. Both quite delicious!
We did walk by on our way out one evening and it was packed so I suggest if you are going to dine there, make a reservation.
Stop by for Gelato – Want to treat yourself to late night dessert, enjoy a gelato after a walk around town. We had to have gelato once last time before we left the city so we just opted to try the hotel desserts and yes the Gelato is yummy.
Finally, I have to give a quick review of the staff. It is a 5-star hotel after all. The staff was very nice at check in and check out. When I checked out, there were several refrigerator charges which were not mine and they took them off with no argument and no issue. You would think hotels would just get rid of those sensored fridges.
P.S. If you need an electric converter it is actually in the refrigerator!! The Concierge told me where it was and I just keep looking and then realized he wasn’t kidding it was IN the fridge.
I forgot to mention and this is huge, if you are traveling with multiple devices BRING extra converters because there are NO USB ports at the hotel, which is why I had to buy the extra converter.
If you are looking for old school hotel glamour, convenient location in Rome, definitely consider the Hotel Westin Excelsior. And definitely look for deals since again it’s a 5 star hotel, it’s not cheap.
Local Restaurants – if you head down to Via Veneto past the embassy, there are a slew of restaurants. We found Suggestum Cafe at Via Veneto 14 to be our go-to restaurant for dinner and breakfast which is $10 Euros for an American breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. Yes, that is a deal!!
Visit Hotel Westin Excelsior for more information. It is part of the now combined Marriot and Starwood hotel chain so you get points!! FYI, Marriott International offers three Loyalty Program brands for all three rewards programs: Marriott Rewards®, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®, and Starwood Preferred Guest® (SPG®). All the Loyalty Program brands offer the same tiers and benefits. This is great since I do stay at both Marriot and Starwood hotels.
Roman Guy Tour of the Top Levels of the Colosseum is a must!!
Disclosure: NYC Single Mom was not compensated for this post.
