Okay... I am writing this review a couple of years after staying here but from what I have read of the recent reviews, I think it's safe to say that this is still relevant. My wife (at that time, my fiance) and I stayed at the hotel for 3 nights in November of 2006 on the way back to Sicily from the US. Found a good price on a travel website and we were content considering that it was a 5 star in Rome. The hotel is elegant in a certain way but definitely could use some type of renovation. I can certainly understand the desire to keep a classical feel to the place, but there is classical done well and then classical that is just old, and some features of the hotel - especially the rooms - were just old (i.e. furniture). The pool was out of use being November, so I guess we missed out on one of the best parts of the hotel (considering other reviews). The breakfast buffet was included in the price and was adequate but nothing impressive; certainly not indicative of a 5 star hotel.

I gave this hotel an overall rating of 3 stars but was debating whether to give it 2. The service was subpar for anywhere and especially for a 5 star place (I know that I continue to harp upon the 5 star rating, but if you pay for 5 stars, you expect 5 stars and you paragon to hotels of similar ratings, right?). There was one young man there from Sardegna who was extremely kind and considerate but some of the others seemed like they were doing you a favor if they provided you with assistance. I am certainly not the typical naive American traveler (I live in Italy, am married to an Italian, speak fluent Italian, etc.), but you wouldn't have been able to tell from the treatment. There was one man in particular behind the front desk who was extremely rude (foreign name; was not Italian). I recall on one occasion that I had just worked out in their small gym and was sweating a little as I crossed through the lobby to go back to my room (there was no shower or changing facility in the gym), and this guy began to criticize me for doing this. I made sure to get in his face about it and he quickly backed down (I am 6'4" and weight 230 of muscle), but the audacity to even address me about this was ridiculous. Even the recommendations from some of the staff for dinner and that kind of stuff was less than adequate (with the exception of one evening).

Bottom line is that this is a 3 star hotel disguised as a 5 star. I would not recommend spending 300 euro a night or whatever it was to stay here. There are better hotels in Rome for 100/night and you can spend the money on other things.

This grand dame has been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Pros:
- Beautiful hotel, opulent bedroom (heavy curtains, nice paintings, warm towel rack)
- Very knowledgeable staff, spoke many languages, knew the area.
- Balcony had table, chairs, and beautiful view of Villa Borhese.
- Wifi in room (but 27 Euros / day)
- Good closet space (but skimpy on drawers)

Cons:
- Room temerature was very high, thermostat could not reduce temp (many guests noted this)
- No alarm clock in room, didn't get wake up call one day (other days OK)
- Workout room is detached from hotel, has only one treadmill.
- No iron / ironing board in room. None available from housekeeping.
- Cleaning 3 shirts + 2 pants = 60 Euros
- Wifi roaming partners are BT, Orange, and Swisscom.
- Had to crawl under desk to find power outlets
- Tub drain was slow
- Shower curtain rod was cheap round rod, curtain rings got stuck in middle (OK, that's nit-picking)...

The hotel itself is nice and the bathroom was much larger than typical European hotels (which is why I rated it three stars). The location is east of the Villa Borghese (one of Rome's nicest outdoor parklands). It's a solid 10-15 minute walk to reach the old city walls (and another 10 minutes walk to the Spanish Steps). Probably the nicest thing I can say is that it's an old-fashioned hotel - right down to the decor. Said in a bit less flattering way, it's a bit stuffy and stogy and probably a place your grandparents would be quite happy. For 'young and hip' people, it's very overpriced, poorly located, and not much fun. The workout room was not very impressive (it looks much nicer in the photos). On the positive, most of ther hotel employees seemed very nice.

If you are traveling in warmer months, it has an Olympic sized outdoor pool - which I'm sure is a big hit when warm enough to swim. Our room also had a small balcony. Unfortunately, we weren't able to enjoy either due to the cold November weather. My wife thinks it's a 4 star...but...

Bottom line: you can do much better for your money (unless you have a ton of extra cash and want to meet other grandparents).

We stayed for one day following our Med. cruise this September. The hotel is impressive and so was the service. Rooms were well equipt, large, clean, and there was even a small balcony. We received great service from the concierge, bell staff. They took great care of our considerable amount of luggage. We enjoyed the gratis breakfast buffet, and our lunch at the pool bar.

However, if you want to see the sights of Rome, this is not the place to stay!! Although we found Rome very walkable, the distance from this hotel to the sights was too great (15E cab ride) to walk from the hotel in the short time we had. For that reason alone, and if you are planning on walking Rome, I would recommend a more central location.