The hotel is in an excellent spot - at the top of the Spanish Steps and close to the main tourist areas. Unfortunately - thats about all of the good news. We arived early, before first check in time and enquired if there was a room available, we let them know thatit wasnt a problem if not as we'd just leave our luggage at the hotel and go for a wander. The girl at check in said we could get a room if we would wait 20 minutes. 1 hour later we were still sitting in the lobby with our luggage - she did come back after half an hour to adise is there was a slight delay. Anyway after an hour the room still wasnt available - she told us it would be worth the wait - I assumed room upgrade, wrongly.
After a total of 75 minutes we were given a key to our room on the 6th floor - the room was very small, with a tiny balcony looking out over the back of teh hotel - no view to talk of.
We stayed for 4 days - on the third day there was no hot water in the morning - reception were less than interested - however the fault was fixed by the following morning.
At check out we were overcharged - when I explained that I had a voucher for 1 night free I was treated like a crook - the girl on reception was very aggressive - told me I should have presented it at check in - which I assured her I had - she did not believe me and told me that this couldnt have happened - how did I still have the voucher. She said it was unbelievable that I had been given it back byt the person who checked me in.
The overall ambience of the hotel, the rooms, the layout - in fact pretty much everything was of a 3-4 star hotel. At 350 euro per night it was extremely dissapointing.
I would strongly advise anyone to think twice before booking.

We were staying for 3 free nights at the De La Ville: 1 night using points on 1 reservation, the next 2 nights from the Priority Club Free Night promotion on a different reservation.
After reading the reviews, we weren't anticipating much in the way of a room but were pleasantly surprised when the friendly girl at the desk told us she was upgrading us, and we didn't have to go through a room change from one reservation to the other. They gave us room 630, a fairly large room (by European standards), a soft bed (important to my wife :-) and with a view of the courtyard cafe and the hills behind the hotel.
We always received a smile and helpful suggestions from the concierge, Nicola. He even loaned us his copy of Rome Eyewitness Guide for planning our days.

Our biggest problem was finding parking near the hotel (I didn't feel like paying 35 Euro a night for the hotel garage), but usually found something within 200 meters (and our last night, within 10 meters !!!)

For what we paid (free), this was an EXCELLENT value... I'm not sure if I would have thought so if I had to pay the normal $500 - $600, since this felt more like a $200 - $300 property, but I guess "location - location - location" <shrug>

Wow! I have stayed at this Hotel on at least 15 occasions and, quite frankly, it only gets better. The location is "A plus" perched right on the top of the Spanish Steps. Everything of Imperial Roma, Via Condotti and environs shopping and La Dolce Vita are all centered here. The staff is remarkably kind and the rooms are so very, very comfortable. The concierge staff is without equal, I truly believe. It is always so nice to come home to the DeLaVille . . . . . . . I know you'll agree that it would be the same as missing the Vatican as missing a stay in this charming, yet elegant, Hotel.

After reading the mixed reviews for this hotel, I hoped that we would find the stellar service some patrons experienced. Not so for us, unfortunately.

During our one-night stay, the hotel was busy with cruise passengers from Oceana, so we were kept waiting nearly four hours for our room, most likely because so many Oceana passengers were checking out that morning. Admittedly, we had taken an overnight flight to Rome, but we did not expect to be kept waiting in the lobby for this length of time. No one escorted us to the lobby sitting area after we checked in as at the St. Regis Grand, and no one offered us refreshments while we were kept waiting. We were simply on our own....waiting and waiting.....

The room we finally were given was extraordinarily small even by European standards. The bathroom was so tiny that the toilet paper kept falling onto the floor, because the holder was positioned right against the toilet. On the positive side, the mattresses were comfortable, the ventillation system was excellent, and the room was quiet. Linens were also of a very good quality.

I had identified a restaurant we wanted to visit, so we approached the concierge to have him make a reservation for us and provide walking directions. He tried to persuade us to eat in the hotel restaurant rather than venture out. We insisted politely that we preferred our choice, and it was a good one as it turned out.

Having visited Rome a number of times, I was surprised at the lack of hospitality at this hotel. Perhaps the manager was absent. On our next visit to Rome, we will return to the St. Regis Grand where outstanding service and warm hospitaliity are the norm..