My wife and I will be staying at the Hilton Cavalieri for a week this fall (using Hilton Honor's points). I've read the comments on the location of the hotel, and understand we'll be spending money for taxis on the days when we don't have a tour scheduled. In case we don't get a room at a level with a free breakfast buffet, my question is whether there a good place for breakfast anywhere nearby (or in the hotel). Any suggestions on ways to make an upgrade more likely? I'm at the Hilton Gold "VIP" Honors level. I'm not as concerned with lunch or dinner - I'm sure the range of options will be wide and wonderful. American breakfasts in general and our needs in particular for a "hearty" but not overwhelming breakfast seem to more difficult to meet in other countries (at least from our limited experience).

Thanks in advance for the info. This will be our first trip to Rome and I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the possibilities.

As a HH gold you will get a free breakfast. There's a chance that you'll get access to their great exec floor,but if you don't you'll get certs for their fantasic beakfast buffet.
It's good that you are going now.They will soon be reclassified and it will take many more points to get free rooms.

jabez - thanks for the information! I missed that in the description of the Gold benefits. The Cavalieri has always been in their top class. Hilton moved additional hotels into class six last year. Either tehy will be creating a new, higher classification above tier 6 for some hotels or increasing the points required. Either way, yes, I'm very pleased we made our reservation when we did.

I spent 6 days there in 2005 and was on the Exec Floor with access to the lounge. I do not know what th edifference in room costs are but if you dont get upgrade then see how much and if possible to pay the difference. I drank and ate the substansial snacks and did not need dinner, as I went to bed mellow and full. A fantastic hotel bUT over priced when you have to pay to use a towel when sitting around the pool, this ontop of 350 Euro or more

blightboy - the substantial evening snacks sound great. Was there a breakfast buffet on the exec floor? Hilton is telling me that if I get an upgrade to the exec floor there is a breakfast buffet so I don't have to get a certificate.

They will move up to being part of the "Waldorf Collection".
That means no GlonP,Glon,etc.
In peak season they will be 80,000 points per night.
I've been staying there for 175,000 for 6 nights.
That's a huge difference!

The lounge has a very nice breakfast. We love sitting out on one of the balconies and watch Rome "come alive" while sipping some great cappucinos.
The lounge changes its food offerings all day long.
They have wines and liquor all day. Champaign with breakfast and have a martini bar around 5. Because of its location I wouldn't stay there if I couldn't use the lounge.
We usually closed our day there by having a sampling of their desserts.

"...and understand we'll be spending money for taxis on the days when we don't have a tour scheduled."

I thought that hotel had a free shuttle service into the city which let people off at the bottom of the Via Veneto.

Is this no longer correct?

Jabez - you are right, that will be a huge difference. Looks like I got in under the wire. The lounge sounds terrific. We'll certainly try to get upgraded.

Dukey - I've read the same thing, that there is a shuttle. We'll use that on one or two days, but the other days we'll want to go directly to the area we'll be touring, without having to catch connecting buses (we're being lazy on this trip!).

One more question - I've read references to a nearby square, within walking distance (which for us would be 5-6 blocks) with nice restaurants and shops. Anyone know which square, where this is, which direction from the hotel?

There is a square down the hill from the hotel. As you go out the front take a right and go down the hill. Some shops (not many) and a couple restaurants. The main road (you can bus towards the xentral area there)is on the bottom of the hill. It's Medagalie D'Oro.Further to the left you will find a good size drug store that has all the bus passes.
If we missed a bus we'd catch a bus.
There's also a Co-op where you can stock up on water,cokes,etc. The walk up the hill is pretty steep,especially with bags of H20.
The shuttle takes you to the Piazza Barberini.Most attractions will be walkable,although we often caught buses accross the street heading where we wanted to go.
Be careful to get to the shuttle early. Sometimes (especially if the hotel is full) folks were "shut out" because they couldn't cram any more into the small bus.
When we're on holiday we like to not rush in the morning. We,therefore,missed the shuttle a few times. Remember,you missit and it's another hour for the next one.
My biggest complaint is that it stops operating way too early.

Great breakfast hot and cold dishes

Jabez & blightboy - great information! thank you again.

Another tip, try and get a room with city view,otherwise you will be looking at the hillside or the big radio mast.

Great views over the city, especially at dawn and dusk

A short trip report. We arrived at the Hilton Cavalieri after a smooth and blessedly uneventfuly flight. The hotel is grand. Our room was elegant. We had a city view - Rome spread out before us. The pillows are gigantic down pillows - the absolute best. The bathroom is all marble - floors and walls, with a separate sitting/makeup area for my wife. We didn't get upgraded to the executive floor because there were too many diamond memebers, but we received the breakfast buffet for free - a tremendous benefit. Who knew that there were 12 kinds of milk, or that I could make use of many of the 20 kinds of jam, 10 kinds of tortes and cakes and breads and cheeses and cured ham.... Great omlets. Great service all around. My only criticism of the breakfast buffet (which we ate 7 days inn a row!) was that 2 of the dishes were consistently luke warm that should have been hot -scrambled eggs and sausage. Great service from the concierge staff. We ate at La Pergola one evening & it was fabulous. Reallly expensive but a once in a lifetime experience. They have one seating each night. Our six course dinner took 4 hours and 45 minutes. About half the days we took the shuttle to Piazza Barberini and then the Metro to other places. There was a crowd for the shuttle only one day. Some days we took a taxi, none of which were terribly expensive. As for Rome itself, I can not do it justice in a brief description here. A wonderful, wonderful trip in all ways.

BM

I'm glad that you had a great time.
We return there in a month. I,fortunately, am a diamond and expect to again enjoy their lounge.
A few years ago they gave us a choice of breakfst in the lounge or the buffet you had. Now it's breakfast in the loung only. While VERY good the buffet is exceptional.