A Modern Roman Holiday: Hotel Vilon, Rome

2 days ago

An upscale hotel experience in the Eternal City

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Boutique hotels could well be your first choice on holiday: small, personal, charming and, above all, not ‘corporate’. But disappointingly often they don’t quite match up to expectations. Maybe the rooms are poky or badly soundproofed, the furniture rather dodgy, the bathrooms too cramped, the service a little casual or the location inconvenient… So to find a hotel where everything’s as you’d like it to be is not only a relief, but also pretty rare. And to find one in a tourist trap like Rome is something to cheer about. Hotel Vilon is pretty much as good as it gets when it comes to boutique hotels in the city – and both smart and discreet enough for Prince Harry and Meghan to choose when they were in Rome for a wedding in 2019.

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Review: Hotel Vilon, Rome

STAY

Hotel Vilon is part of the small luxury Shedir chain, owned by an Argentinian entrepreneur, with six hotels scattered around town, all of them in historical buildings with coveted locations. Opened in 2016, it’s in the Palazzo Borghese (not to be confused with the Villa Borghese), an imposing, mainly 17th century building very near the Tiber – and big enough to also house the Spanish embassy.

The modest entrance sat on a side street (it was once a school for poor girls) belies the smart, rather glamorous, interior, leading past reception into a snazzy bar and lounge, with the 17 rooms and suites spread over four floors above.

The impressive rooms are all different, but share a faintly theatrical and quirky look, with eclectic furnishings – some of them art deco – and striking artworks on the walls. Bathrooms are spacious, basins decked out in black marble, with toiletries in dispensers – but mercifully not chained to the wall. Luxury extends to the unusually thick towels and bath robes, and style even stretches to cool green slippers. The small dressing rooms are very welcome, and there are other thoughtful extras such as the free soft drinks and snacks in the minibar, a coffee machine and a steamer. The only gripe is the baffling lighting system.

The three suites are pretty special; two with outside spaces and views of the Palazzo’s inner courtyard (now part of the Spanish embassy) with its magnificent sculptures and columns. Bathrooms are huge and, unlike the regular rooms, come with tubs perfect for an end-of-day soak.

EAT

The Vilon’s restaurant, Adelaide, is helmed by chef Gabriele Muro, who hails from the island of Procida near Naples. Muro embraces his home country’s signature fare, but is also greatly influenced by the time he spent in Thailand.

The food unusually good for a boutique hotel, and attracts diners – both hotel guests and outsiders – for dinner. It’s a fairly intimate space with black wooden panelling, large mirrors, candles, and crystal water glasses setting the classy tone for a delicious, beautifully presented seasonal modern Mediterranean cuisine with the occasional oriental touch. But Roman pasta dishes are also a speciality – with, it is said, the best Amatriciana in the city. There’s also a small inner courtyard leading off the restaurant, where you can eat al fresco or enjoy an aperitif.

Breakfast, served in the same room, consists of a small buffet with homemade bread and tempting pastries (you can get a cacao e pepe filled croissant), but is mostly a top notch a la carte affair. Staff are as warm and welcoming as they are throughout the hotel.

DO

The hotel’s proximity to the Tiber means that it’s easy to get across the river to the smart Prati area, as well as the Castel Sant’Angelo. The papal fortress is one of Rome’s main sights and offers stunning views of the city from the upper terraces.

You can head across the river to the Vatican and St Peter’s, or head over to the modernist building housing the Ara Pacis museum, which holds major exhibitions, as well as the mansion housing the Napoleonic museum. You can also easily walk from Hotel Vilon to many of Rome’s main sights, including the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the Piazza Navona, Piazza del Popolo and the Trevi fountain – and the city’s main street, the Via Corso.

It’s a little further away from the Villa Borghese, Rome’s leading art museum (you’ll want to book this one in advance, by the way), but it’s still walkable. For more distant attractions, the hotel is not far from the Flaminio metro station (easily the best option as Rome’s traffic is notoriously bad and taxis pretty hard to find).

You can also easily get from Flaminio metro station to one of Rome’s most famous institutions, Cinecittà Studios, once known as Hollywood on the Tiber, where you can book a tour. Although many major movies and TV series are made there, few visitors to Rome realise that you can actually visit. There’s a fascinating permanent exhibition, with famous costumes, film clips and several interactive displays, as well as special tributes to directors such as Fellini. The site also houses MIAC, the Italian museum of the moving image. And you’ll find a good café. The Cinecittà metro station is directly outside the studio complex. Don’t confuse the studios with the theme park, Cinecitta World.

It’s well worth booking a guided tour, with helpful and well-informed guides, through specialist Tourist Italy to avoid queuing at such teeming tourist draws as the Vatican and the Colosseum. The company organises a very wide range of reasonably priced tours to several attractions and districts of Rome (such as trendy Trastevere) as well as excursions outside the city. Tourist Italy also organises tempting food tours, wine tastings and cookery classes.

And while Hotel Vilon doesn’t have a spa or gym, but guests can use the facilities of other Shedir hotels in the area.

FINAL WORD

The Vilon is a perfect example of what a luxury boutique hotel should be: individual, stylish with lovely rooms, excellent food and very good service. It’s also pretty well located for many of Rome’s main sights