My wife and I just returned from a week at the Relais Pierret Piazza di Spagna, and I think that I can save you the hours that we spent looking for just the right place in Rome for your perfect stay -- this is it.
The location is, as you have read, on the piazza at the Spanish Steps. As you face the steps, at the bottom, immediately to the left is the famous Babbington's Tea Room. This building is to the left of that. It was built in 1800 (or so), but with a lift and beautiful common areas in the hotel. The rooms and facilities are very modern, clean and comfortable. The Spanish Steps are alive with people, so that you find yourselves in a very lively part of town. The hotel is just far enough to the side that you are not walking through crowds to get to it. Although there is street noise at night, if you notice it, it stops before it is too late because, like any public space in Rome with lots of people, there is a casual police presence. We never saw any trouble there. Around the corner from the hotel is an entrance to the Metro. With a little investigation, you could easily take the train from the airport to the Termini station, then switch to the Metro and arrive nearly at the hotel door. The Metro has a couple of exits some streets apart, so this was not clear to me (before we went) and we arranged for transportation from the airport, but on the way back we went by Metro because it is so close and convenient. We walked nearly everywhere that we wanted to go, so we only used the Metro to get on time to early tours at the Vatican Museums and the Palatine Hill. This hotel is very well located if you want to walk the city to sights. It felt good to walk off some of the great meals we had. Of course, the expensive retail shops are in the streets nearby, and it is always entertaining to window shop, when they are closed, on the way back to the hotel.
I cannot say enough about the staff. There are hotel staff that are helpful, and then there are staff like the ones at this hotel that really take it to the next level (or two). One of the most helpful things they did was to recommend restaurants and to make reservations. Without exception, we were recommended to charming local inexpensive restaurants, and with our reservations came excellent treatment. I have an allergy that I could never adequately explain at restaurants, but that issue was always clear with the reservation. One reservation was at a restaurant that, we were told, was touristy but that they (the staff) ate there. We went in, tried to explain to a waiter that we had a reservation, but were seated with other tourists, which seemed natural enough. But I wanted to be certain that it was clear who we were so they knew I was the one with the allergy, and when an english speaking waiter (not our first one there) found out about our reservation, he told us that our table was upstairs. We were escorted to a table upstairs where the customers were all local Italians and where the service was remarkably better. I attribute this to the staff recommendation, naturally, and give it to you as an example of how they can make a difference in your Rome experience.
Truly, there are countless fine hotels in Rome. I am simply saying here that you can rest assured that you have found one that will exceed your expectations.
