Hotel Review of THE FIRST Luxury Art hotel Rome

The FIRST Luxury Art Hotel Roma is a 5 star luxury Boutique Hotel. The hotel is located in a fantastic location, around the corner from the main shopping district and very close to Spanish Steps.

Arrival

I was greeted by a lovely gentleman as soon as I came through after luggage collection; he was holding up a small sign with my name on it and rushed over to help me with my bags.
He was very friendly and we chatted about my flight and about Australia.

We walked together through to the car park and stopped at a very nice Mercedes class E, he opened the door for me and prompted me to get in while he put my luggage in the boot.

The BMW was very comfortable, it had a soft cushioned head rest, a small control panel to change the position of the seat, bottled water and Italian sweets (in the centre arm rest) to enjoy on the drive.

He drove 45mins to the hotel, at a fairly high speed, which didn’t bother me but it might bother scare some passengers, I should also add that this seems to be the way most Italians drive, so get used to it! The gentleman was so helpful, as we drove past certain buildings he told me their names and a bit of history about them.

When I arrived at the hotel I walked through the large glass double doors and into the small reception area on the left (consisting of 2 small tables) and chairs. I was offered a beverage at check in (I didn’t know what as on offer and noticed a coffee machine so asked for coffee).

Check in didn’t take long and I was very grateful that my room was ready, given it was 8 or 9am. I was shown around the hotel a little and then escorted to my room where the lovely receptionist showed me how to use the aircon and the shower (as it has 3 taps).

Room

I was lucky enough to try 2 different rooms as I was on my own for the first 4 nights and with my dad for the last 3 nights.

My first room was the Junior Suite located on the 3rd floor. This studio style room has a small seating area as you walk in the door with gorgeous blue velvet couches and a small coffee table.

A small work desk with a fabulous Multi-charger system with 6 interchangeable power box connectors fitting IPhone 4 and 5, Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung, 2 extra high power USB connectors and another 2 universal electric plugs (although my IPhone wouldn’t accept the connection).

A Nespresso coffee machine (complimentary capsules) and a very large very comfortable king bed. The room also comes with a large 42 inch TV with Sky, Pay per view, Tv on demand however 90% of the channels are all in Italian – which is understandable – however the English channels are news or sports, which I found a little frustrating.

The bathroom is my dream bathroom! The whole bathroom is inlayed with beautiful Emperador marble. There is a bidet (which is a little weird for a westerner… or at least an Australian..) and a very large rainfall shower (which I am always a fan of).

There was a cord in the shower that says “alarm don’t not pull”, I later found out this is in case you fall over in the shower or have an accident, you pull this and someone will come and help you. The exclusive Ortigia bathroom product were very nice but I found the shampoo and conditioners to dry my hair out.

I also had a very small window/balcony in my room which I found made the room very dark, however this could have been because not all of the lights in the room were turned on, on the day of my arrival.

The next room i stayed in was one of the Art Suites, it had similar items in the room such as the lovely blue velvet couches and a small coffee table, the Nespresso machine, Multi-charger system and large king size bed.

We also requested a single rollaway bed for me (as my dad slept on the king size bed), I found the roll away bed to be very firm and I am yet to work out if this was a good or bad thing, it was not uncomfortable but after sleeping in the luxurious beds, I could tell a big difference.

As you walked in the door there are 2 small seats and a TV on the wall, I assume so you can sit and enjoy some TV if someone is in bed, on the left was the first bathroom which featured a toilet, bidet and a rainfall shower and sink, the second bathroom had a large bath with jets and a second sink.

Pool

There is no pool at this property.

Dining Options

The First – Luxury Art hotel Rome has a few different options to dine:

Roof Garden – The Roof Garden is a beautiful spot to enjoy some lunch or Dinner and take in the incredible views of Rome. The Rooftop is open to visitors all year however is service is provided from May to October (weather permitting). I would highly recommended heading to the rooftop at sunset, you can contact the front desk to organise a nice glass of Italian wine and a small snack to enjoy.

All’oro Restaurant – This is a 1 Michelin Star restaurant, chef Riccardo Di Giacinto is known for his unique talent to revive the authentic flavours and reintroducing it with dazzling mastery into the modern plate. Modern and elegant. Breakfast daily was very nice, there is not a massive selection however the selection provided is very good and you do have the option of hot meals.

Lounge Bar – The Lounge Bar is located in between the restaurant and the lounge, stop by for some cocktails and finger food before you head out for the night.

Room Service – If you don’t feel like going out you can always enjoy some room service. I did find the room service menu to be very small and not have a large range of options and sadly the risotto I ordered was a very liquid-y and had a very strong flavor (which was really nice).

Spa

There are no spa facilities on the property however the reception hosts can arrange an in room treatment for you at a reasonable price.

Location

The location of the hotel is one of the best in Rome, it’s a 2 min walk to Piazza del Popolo which is considered to be central Rome and has lots of tour companies meeting here for tours of Rome or day trips from Rome. It’s a very short 5 min walk to Via del Corso which is the main shopping street in central Rome and a 10 min walk to Via dei Condotti which has the luxury brand name stores such as Prada, Burberry etc, also at the end of this road is the Spanish Steps.

The Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon are a 15 min walk and the famous Colosseum and Vatican city are about a 25-30min (obviously these times will depend on how fast you walk). Personally I think walking around Rome is much nicer than driving through it.

Staff Worth Special mention

All of the reception hosts were always very helpful!

Juubair was able to recommend some excellent restaurants for me (Life Pizza & Mirabella for Christmas day) as well as taking the time to find out what would be open on Christmas day for us to do.

Dario was very helpful as I wanted to get a manicure, he arranged an apt for me and then walked me to the salon (which was just down the road) to make sure that the staff knew what I wanted which made me feel a lot better as it was my first day in Rome and I wasn’t sure how much English people spoke. He also assisted us in making a booking for the Borghese Gallery.

Did the hotel fulfil our requests?

I did not have any requests before check in however all request during my stay were fulfil.

Did we have any issues during our stay or do we have any suggestions?

I did find the coffee (eg: American/cappuccino) each morning varied from luke warm, cold and very hot, I am not sure what typical Italian coffee is normally like.

Would we stay here again?

Definitely, the hotel is beautiful, the rooms are well set out, they are quiet and warm (unsure what it would be like during summer). The location of the hotel is superb! And the views from the rooftop are amazing!

General Summary

What I found special about the rooms and the hotel in general is the amount of interesting art around the place, including a cow with phones on it!! What I really liked though was in the rooms, there was a pamphlet with information on the art in your room, its nice to know more about what’s hanging on the wall. Another interesting feature are all the books in the suites, maybe just in case you leave your read material at home!

You can also take comfort in the multi-lingual hosts (in the reception area) that are available 24 hours for any need or assistance, It’s like a personal assistant on call during your entire stay.

THE FIRST Luxury Art Hotel Roma
Via del Vantaggio, 14,
00186 Roma, Italy
Phone: +39 06 4561 7070
Fax: +39 06 45617079
http://www.thefirsthotel.com/en/default.html

Disclaimer: Thank you to the The First – Luxury Art hotel Rome who kindly hosted me for 3 nights (the following 4 nights and activities were paid out of my own pocket) . All opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced in any way.