Just a 2 night stay in this boutique gem found on Tripadvisor.The Hotel Stendhal was just as elegant as pictured on the website with a great traditional style decor,marble bathrooms with modern plumbing that worked,fluffly thick white towels and a room with all the inclusions that the traveller needs.

The rooms may be a bit small, but then in a city like Rome you spend very little time in them. The fantastic location has one drawback in that that those rooms on the street front may be a bit noisy. The long shuttered windows plus the airconditioning means that some of the street noise can be overcome, but for me it was a case of" throw open the shutters", lean out over the French style balcony and marvel at the fountain at the end of the street and the passing parade of Romans....as they say "when in Rome"etc...!

Included in the rate was a continental breakfast served in the tiny, classically furnished lounge-breakfast room. Nothing tiny about the breakfast though . It included eggs, pastries, fruit, cereal, cold meats and cheeses and the best coffee I had in Rome , ever so elegantly served in a sparkling silver pot and with hot frothy milk.

Everything about the Hotel Stendhal sparkles. No dingey halls here, no clanking ,unreliable elevators. Everything shows the benefit of the modern renovation throughout and the whole is kept spotlessly clean by a team of housemaids wearing neat uniforms complete with fresh , starched white aprons.

The staff in this hotel have a genuine warmth that shows in the level of guest service they give. Take the concierge, the wonderful Fabrizio, for example. He rang my cruise company and suggested, then organised , for them to pick me up for the transfer to the ship at a nearby hotel instead of at the airport. This not only saved me countless Euros for the taxi ride, but it allowed me to enjoy a relaxed and leisurely start to the day. Not only that, but when I went to check out Fabrizio would not let me leave until he had phoned to double check that the transfer courier was indeed waiting at the other hotel.What a man...what a gem!

The little things count when you travel alone. This Hotel delivered on all counts.