Rome will be Rome even if it’s for its sheer theatricality.
A trip to Rome should not simply be about visiting the Vatican. Rome is a perfect destination for the historical and cultural enthusiast. There is so much to see in Rome that one can be lost in its ancient richness. The good news is that with everything ancient, historic and cultural there are ample information and guides available to see you through your visit.
Unique places to stay:
City Centre Hotel d’Inghilterra for Shopping and Sightseeing
Rome is all about lifestyle and culture so may I propose the quaint 88-room city centre Hotel d’Inghilterra.
Classically located in an exclusive 19th-century building, the hotel was once home to poet John Keats. The location is perfect for everything romaine. The property itself lies in a quiet back street close to the Spanish Steps and Via dei Condotti. The beauty of staying at Hotel d’Inghilterra is that you will be located within the heart of Rome’s designer shopping streets since Via dei Condotti, Via Borgogna and Via Frattina are just a short stroll from the hotel. Almost all the designer brands are only a stone throw away for exclusive shopping.
Hotel d’Inghilterra is an elegant hideaway that reflects a glamorous history as the former home of an aristocratic family. Hotel d’Inghilterra is brilliantly located within walking distance of innumerable attractions including the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Villa Borghese Park which makes it also very convenient for sightseeing.
Everything about the hotel is stylish and retro from the rooms to the classical Italian cuisine including breakfast which is served in the renowned Café Romano which has both internal and street dining. A stay at the Hotel d’Inghilterra feels like spending time in an exclusive private villa right in the heart of the Eternal City.
Lifestyle and Relaxation at Jumeirah Grand Hotel Via Veneto
As an ancient city, day spas are in abundance in Rome. However, check into the Jumeirah Grand Hotel Via Veneto and you are in for a treat.
Despite its name, the Jumeirah Grand Hotel Via Veneto is an exquisite boutique hotel with a spa designed to help you leave the busy world behind. The hotel has 116 spacious rooms and suites beautifully decorated with 1920s inspired handmade furniture. It is housed within two renovated and restored 19th century villas, masterfully combined to create a modern masterpiece.
The street Via Veneto itself is featured in the famous movie La Dolce Vita. Harry’s Bar which appears in the film is somewhat of a very classic spot! The hotel has two fine dining restaurants, a rooftop solarium, the state-of-the-art Aqva City Spa, five elegant meeting and function rooms as well as a small Technogym Fitness Centre. As you enter the hotel, one cannot miss the extensive art collection including works by Picasso, Dali and Guttuso. The hotel’s AQVA CITY SPA which occupies over 500 square metres of luxury offers a wellbeing paradise in the very heart of Rome.
It is the only spa in Rome to stock the exclusive Sisley Paris products
Guests can choose from a wide range of treatments such as:
• Sisley for the face
• Sisley global anti-aging treatment by prior appointment
Expert therapists are on hand to provide a vast range of treatments including healing and soothing aromatherapy, hydro-massage and colour therapy – so all you need do is choose how you prefer to be pampered. There are six beautifully designed mahogany treatment cabins, each with ergonomic heated beds and individual polychrome marble showers; one of the cabins houses a private hammam.
However, If you prefer to simply like back and unwind in your own dreams, then there is the futuristic Vichy shower, where guests can enjoy a massage while being caressed by a shower of warm water containing essential oils, coming from jets positioned overhead.
Luxury Link and Jumeirah Grand Hotel Via Veneto Experience:
On your next Roman holiday, book a stay at the five-star Jumeirah Grand Hotel Via Veneto with Luxury Link for 2-6 nights from £721, based on two people sharing. Your stay includes private roundtrip airport transfers, full English breakfast for two, buffet lunch for two served at Magnolia Restaurant on one day of your choice, complimentary access to Aqva City Spa, wireless internet access, early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability. To book please visit www.luxurylink.co.uk or call 0808 189 0029
The Luxury Link Travel Group is a collection of luxury travel websites offering value-added, immersive experiences at five-star accommodation around the world at insider prices. They feature luxury vacation experiences from over 700 luxury and five-star hotels in more than 80 countries. For 17 years, the trusted luxury hotel experts at Luxury Link have worked directly with the world’s top properties to create premium, hand-picked travel experiences not available anywhere else.
Sightseeing
When it comes to sightseeing, you should not fail to visit the big name sights, after all that is what Rome is renowned for. Although it helps to pre-book tours, there are so many tour operators so please check carefully before booking. Some passes are supposed to give supplementary benefits such free admissions to museums and audio guides but in reality they do not. The good news is that most passes allow for free travel on the underground.
Some ideas: You can start with the Roman Colosseum or Coliseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, it was commisioned in AD72 by Emperor Vespasian and completed by his son, Titus, in 80, with later improvements by Domitian. The Colosseum ticket covers the Roman Forum (Forum Romanum), the central area of the city around which ancient Rome developed. Here was where commerce, business, prostitution, cult and the administration of justice took place. This also the communal heart of the city where religious activities were conducted.
The ticket also entitles you to a visit to the Palatine Hill adjacent to the Roman Forum. The Palatine Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands above the Roman Forum. The main outside entrance is just south of the Colosseum on Via di San Gregorio but you can access the Palatine Hill also from the Roman Forum, though its a bit of a climb.
Other places of interest are:
If you love Churches, then there are quite a few Basilicas to explore.
Start with St Peter’s Basilica, the centrepiece of the Catholic Church worldwide including the Sistine chapel – in the Vatican museums around the corner. You will need to pre-book or you’ll spend hours waiting in line. If after this you are still in pilgrim mode, also worth visiting are San Giovanni in Laterano, the Catholic Church’s fourth-century ‘ecumenical mother church’, and Santa Maria della Vittoria, a Baroque Church that houses one of Bernini’s most famous sculptures – ‘The Ecstasy of St Teresa’.
The sheer theatricality of Rome in both its architecture and its inhabitants, is best savoured in its centro storico squares. Piazza Navona, home to yet more superb Bernini sculptures, occupies the site of an ancient race track; Campo de’ Fiori pulsates with life from when the produce market sets up in the morning until the early hours when carousers go home, and piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps rise far above the cliché.
In the tiny Piazza di Trevi is the Trevi Fountain, a towering Rococo extravaganza; crowds of visitors lob coins into its waters, wishing, as tradition dictates, for a speedy return to Rome. However tempted you are, please note that wading, washing and splashing in fountains are strictly against local bylaws. And unlike the Grand Tourists, you don’t want to drink from it either: the sparkling water is full of chlorine (though there’s a chlorine-free spout hidden in a bird-bath-shaped affair at the back of the fountain to the right).
Before exhaustion, do not fail to see two superb ancient buildings preserved through the ages:
• the Pantheon, originally a temple to the Pagan panoply, now houses the tombs of monarchs and greats, including the artist Raphael.
• And Castel Sant’Angelo, dominating the river Tiber near St Peter’s, was built up over centuries on top of the mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian; it was from the upper terraces of this fortification that Puccini had Tosca hurl herself to her death in his great Roman opera.
