Creating Lifelong Memories: The Hassler Hotel, Rome

Childhood memories are made by staying at places like the storied Hassler hotel atop the Spanish Steps – even if you don’t like the tiramisu, says Lucy Cleland

The Hassler Hotel Rooftop

It was when the bee-hive shaped domes arrived at our table that we glanced at one another, eyes crinkling in delight – the theatricality of our evening was reaching its inevitable apotheosis. Deconstructed tiramisu was the contents. Deftly reconstructed and handed back to us by our handsome waiter in his burgundy jacket with a knowing flourish, he’d done this before. We sighed, happily comfortable in our wingback chairs. Welcome to the Hassler, as iconic a Roman hotel as you could wish for – and its great warm, welcoming heart.

Deluxe Suite Forum Bedroom at the Hassler

While my nine-year-old son was perhaps less enamoured of his fried aubergine amuse-bouche or, in reality, the tiramisu (‘ugh, coffee, mum, please’), entreating me to eat his own deconstructed mess so as not to upset our waiter, I know for a fact he will never forget his stay at the Hassler. Surrounded by sumptuous velvets, heavy drapes, tinkling live piano music and enough silver to sink a small battalion, it might have felt intimidating had we not been made to feel like movie stars. Just like the many real ones who have stayed here before us: Tom Cruise, Madonna, Jennifer Aniston…

Lucy Cleland with her son in Rome

The Hassler, you see, is family-run (not by the same family since it first opened in 1893, granted, but almost) and it feels like it; with each and every member of staff as attentive and charming as can be. The current owners, Roberto Jr and Veruschka Wirth, are fifth-generation hoteliers and have hospitality running through their veins, tracing their pedigree back to the pioneering Swiss hotelier, Franz-Josef Bucher, who had bought Hotel Quirinale and later Albergo Minerva, in 1894.

Roberto Wirth

Their father, Roberto Wirth, who died unexpectedly last year, was himself born in Rome and grew up in the nearby Hotel Eden, until, aged 14, he moved with his family to the Hassler, where he lived on the first floor and saw first-hand the ins and outs of what it meant to run a first-class establishment. What might have surprised his loyal clientele was that Roberto was born completely deaf, and was discouraged by his own father, Oscar, from following in his footsteps. But young Roberto was not to be deterred and revelled in strolling the marbled entrance halls greeting his guests like family members. Today, that role belongs to Roberto Jr and Veruschka – now two of the youngest hotel owners and managers of such an establishment in Italy. And with young blood comes exciting plans, beginning with the opening of the 7th floor terrace to the public for the first time ever – worth booking for the staggering views alone.  

The reason for our family stay? A new tradition of filial weekends I’d started when I took my daughter to Paris for her eighth birthday (we stayed at the Crillon, no less, a similarly storied hotel). I wanted both of my children to have a solo trip, with a parent’s undivided attention. I’m filling up the memory bank, you see. And when you stay somewhere like the Hassler, it makes my job that much easier. Perhaps one day we’ll return and he’ll actually eat the tiramisu.

BOOK IT: Doubles from £750, excluding breakfast. hotelhasslerroma.com