ggg

We are a family of 4 travelling to Europe in September - October this year. We are wanting a luxury hotel in central Rome. Have enquired re Hotel de Russie but prohibitively expensive for 2 rooms. Grand Hotel de Minerve can offer a 2 bedroom suite and Hotel Eden can offer interconnecting rooms for similar prices. Hotel Eden offers the best price but not with a 2br suite. We want a really beautiful hotel, with views, away from heavy street traffic (i.e prefer pedestrian traffic)which may depend on the room of course and a central location to sights and a fun area. Which is considered the most charming of the two and would give us a real experience of Rome? Also, does anyone know of the relative sizes of the hotel rooms?

herman

My wife and I stayed at the Minerve last Sept. It is a very nice hotel with good service from an accomodating staff, but somewhat staid. I would not call it charming, but it was very nice. Our room was very pleasant and satisfactory, but not large, and it was not a suite. The room did not have a view but I believe some rooms do. The best part, which we loved, was the restaurant, bar and terrace on top of the hotel, where one can watch the sun set over the roof tops. A great central location, right next to the Pantheon, which was the most important factor for us. It faces a quiet square and is away from heavy traffic.

rex

There is the argument made by some that staying in any <i><b>really</b></i> luxury hotel is very much NOT the way to get &quot;a real experience of Rome&quot; - - I don't know if I believe that, but the more luxury hotels will accommodate pure &quot;mono-lingual&quot; English speakers to a greater degree, and make your stay as &quot;American&quot; (or Australian, in your case) as you want it to be. So you have to decide if that is what you want.

I do not know the Hotel Eden personally, only its splendid reputation, but I have &quot;been in&quot; the Minerve, and had brunch in/on its rooftop terrace. Its location is really excellent, and will totally immerse you in the heart of the Centro Storico of Rome. That doesn't answer your question about room size.

Getting &quot;a real experience of Rome&quot; migh come from the neighborhoods of &quot;ordinary residents&quot; such as you might find in Trastevere, for example. But I don't know a hotel to recommend there, top end or otherwise.

Best wishes,

Rex

ehc

We stayed at the Grand Hotel Minerva a couple of years ago, and had lunch at the Eden. I think the location of the Grand is better/more convenient than the Eden. Then again I suppose others will disagree. I did not see the rooms at the Eden so I can't comment on those, but we were very satisfied w/ our room at the Grand. We did not have a view of anything but the small street outside the hotel, and I THINK???? many rooms might not have good views b/c the other buildings are close to the hotel. The Grand is a 2min. walk (at the most) up the street from the Panthenon. In front of the Pan. the piazza is a great place to have something to eat and people watch. Pz. Navrona (maybe a 15min. walk - or a little less)and Campo Flori (a little further away) are both w/i walking distance. The little side streets are all so interesting to walk around you don't even realize you're walking so much. I would DEFINITELY stay in this area of Rome &amp; I'd also stay at the Grand again.

bardo1

The Hotel Raphael is central, really beautiful hotel, with views (get a suite w/ terrace), and is away from all street traffic.

This might work if you get the deluxe suite with terrace. Some people who stayed in the cheapest ($350/night) regular doubles have complained about small rooms without a good view.

Here's their website, which has many photos - http://www.raphaelhotel.com/eng.html

Lois_L

Since these very conveniently located hotels (de Minerve and Raphael) are about 5 storeys each, and located in tiny, charming, cramped streets (well, de Minerve fronts on a lovely piazza) you can't expect much in the way of views. The street traffic at either of these 2 hotels would not be obnoxious. They are nice, but not, IMHO, over-the-top sumptuous. On the other hand, if you want super-luxury, which is the Eden, or maybe the Hassler or Intercontinental, I think you would be paying much, much more for your trip, since you would be surrounded by only expensive restaurants (lots of tourist traps in the Piazza di Spagna area, and worse on the adjacent Via Veneto). For example, a minestrone at the Eden was 25 euros. For a more interesting, more charming Rome experience, I would go for the Minerve or the Rapael, or the delle Nazione or del Senato, hands-down. Don't expect big rooms. But even if you think you are hardened to high prices, and want lots of luxury, I think the Eden could still give you quite a shock, especially for a 4-person family.