My wife and I just returned from Italy and a stay at The Hotel Splendide Royal. This hotel definitely has its good and bad points. The Splendide bills itself as a 5 Star and in some respects it is. At least it tries to be. It certainly is 5 Star when it comes to rates so if you’re looking for a bargain this is not the hotel for you. We knew that going in, of course, and on this trip price was not an issue. The hotel is nicely decorated, clean and reflects an upscale atmosphere in all areas. Our room, a Deluxe Double with a view, ($440 EU plus 10% service) was large by European standards and had a small but, luxurious bath. The room overlooked the Borghese Gardens (tree tops actually) and the street (noise level was tolerable).
The room had 1 large and 1 smaller chair which meant there really wasn’t a comfortable place to lounge for the 2 of us. We spent most of our time away form the hotel sightseeing so this was no a huge issue but, a small sofa would have a big improvement. The room also had a safe and windows that opened. The bed was the typical European king that consists of 2 extra long twins joined together. If you like extra hard beds (billed as orthopedic) this place is for you. We found as in other upscale hotels in Italy, Splendide offered linen sheets with an option to have your bed made with cotton sheets. It must have been the laundry process as the linen here was so rough after the second night we ended up requesting the cotton sheets (big improvement). The bath, as I mentioned, was small (narrow actually) but, had nice features such as a soaking tub, dual sinks, bidet, towel warming rack, converter plug, big fluffy towels and separate shower. The shower was so tiny you could hardly move in it but, the water pressure was gloriously strong and the head delivered the stream in a soft soothing rain.

The hotel has 2 restaurants. Mirabelle on the 7th floor offers a very formal atmosphere but, had a casual outdoor terrace overlooking the Vatican. We enjoyed dinner our first night on the Terrace despite the fact it was mainly for cocktails and light fair. The Management and staff were quick to please and accommodated our request before I had finished uttering the words. The restaurant boasts a Michelin 1 Star Chef and lived up to the rating. Dinner was not inexpensive but, the combination of view, service, food and alfresco dining made it simply magical. Worth going out of your way for. I have to give full credit here in regards to the service. I have been in the hotel and restaurant business for 35 years and it was as good as I have seen. Anticipatory to the point of simply turning your head towards the service staff and they were already in motion to take car of your needs. Yet, unobtrusive. Never interrupting, never hovering. Just perfect! I can’t give them enough praise. I can only assume that Mirabelle was not operated by the hotel as the difference was like night and day in regards to the rest of the service we encountered. Terrace La Limonaia is located on the 6th floor is open for breakfast. We ate here twice and then found a number of wonderful small restaurants neighboring the hotel to have breakfast in. At 35 EU each for an American breakfast we found the food here to be among the poorest quality we encounter in Italy. In this case it’s worth the trip to go somewhere else!

Starting before our arrival and continuing through our stay we were disappointed and frustrated with the service we received at the front desk. All except, Enrico were worthless. I had utilized the hotel provided email addresses to email the Concierge ahead of time in an effort to organize some restaurant reservations. I never got a response. I then emailed the Assistant to the GM. No response. I even emailed the GM. No response. So when we arrived I asked 1 of the young ladies at the desk to assist with reservations. She said she would take care of and it. When I returned sometime latter I was told by a gentlemen nothing had been done. The young lady I spoke with happen to be sitting at desk behind the counter. When I suggested he speak with her, he acted like she wasn’t there and began asking me what kind of restaurant I was looking for. On another occasion, we approached the desk to ask for a restaurant recommendation. While no guests were present, the 2 gentlemen ignored us for some time. Finally ,1 of them asked if we were checking in. I said “no, we’ve been here for 3 days. I need a restaurant reservation”. I was then quickly given the name of a restaurant around the corner and dismissed. I decided to look it up on Trip Advisor first and found it to be poorly rated as very touristy. Needless to say we went elsewhere (Pierluigi) which was great. Each time we went to the desk they acted as if we were invisible and they were to busy to help. When they did engage us they were acted haughty. The place was like Faulty Towers when it came to service. A real joke! We saw a portly, balding gentleman in a suit on 3 or 4 occasions who was either the GM or some kind of manager. He went out of his way to avoid speaking to the guests. I guess he has trained the staff well! They all need a lesson from the staff at Mirabelle.