Hotel Rome, we think these are the very best
I rare love Rome, perhaps my favourite of all the cities I have been to. Rome is many things: there is fashion, food, charm, history and art. But let's be very, very honest: if you type ‘hotel Rome’ into your search bar, you get pretty much turned wooden chair legs and shiny wood. I often keep Leco van Zadelhoff in the back of my mind as a taste thermometer. If I answer the Would Leco sleep here question with a ‘yes’, it's worth an AMAYZINE nomination. And to Casa Monti (I once lived in Monti and we named our dog after Rome's nicest neighbourhood, so by this name you've actually already roped me in) I would send Leco blind.
Is this the nicest hotel in Rome?
Casa Monti is a boutique hotel with 36 rooms, including 10 suites. It has a restaurant on the ground floor and a rooftop on the sixth floor. I suspect this will be my favourite spot, because you so enjoy the view of Rome's nicest neighbourhood (I find Monti much more authentic than the now overly touristy Trastevere) and they have French Riviera-themed bar food. Nice for a change. They serve Negroni with Provençal herbs or a Panisperna Rouge Old Fashioned that refers to the street Casa Monti is located on: Via Panisperna 210. And for snacks, think focaccia with olives and oil and a mix of cheeses and salumi.
And oh yes, the plates, if the waiter is just looking the other way, you want to slip them right into your bag. I suggest they set up shop soon, otherwise I predict that much of the tableware will miraculously disappear.
The interior design of this hotel in Rome
Because the location and charm of the six-storey building are great, of course, but there is more that makes this hotel so special and that is the interior design. That is in the hands of Laura Gonzalez, and not just anyone. Laura is a renowned interior designer whose several Rizzoli books have already been published. She has a studio in New York and in Paris and has an eclectic, layered style that I would call somewhat the interior design equivalent of fashion phenomenon La DoubleJ.
It is cheerful and exuberant without becoming caricatured. Yet it is sophisticated and glues classic, bygone eras to the era that awaits.
What does it cost?
OK, it's not a bargain, you wouldn't expect it to be. But for a five-star hotel of this class and allure in the heart of Rome, I think it's reasonably priced too. You can get a double room from around €450, depending on the size of the room and the season, of course.
And then this:
The hotel has a spa where you can, for example, book a Susanne Kaufmann body massage (Susanne Kaufmann's products are sold at Skins Cosmetics, for example, and are known for her holistic philosophy using many products and herbs from the mountains) and you're already going to look forward to that orange, classic Fiat 500 with the worn leather luggage case strapped to the back.
Casa Monti has sprezzatura, as the Italians say so nicely. What that is? The Italian interpretation of the French je ne sais quoi with an extra dash of bravado.
