Hotels #4 and 5 - River Palace Tour and the Cavalieri

view from my room at the Cavalieri of Rome

This morning I awoke in my room at the River Palace and quickly repacked everything and made my way down the two elevators to the lobby to leave my things in storage, have some breakfast and take a cab to the Palazzo Farnese. I was in a rush so the cab was necessary. The breakfast at the River Palace is large and as with all hotels so far, scrambled eggs were there, toast, meats and cheeses, fruits, yogurts, several juices and coffees. The sausages and potato patties were not that great and it may be because I made it down there later than I should have.
The Palazzo Farnese is also the French Embassy. In it's many incarnations, it was a private residence and then the Ecole Francaise de Rome and is spectacular with some beautiful rooms. Some standouts- one designed by Michelangelo - he instructed the workers to remove a floor to make the room the height of two floors - the entire ceiling of the room is carved wood. Another room, designed by Annibale Caracci is similar to the Sistine Chapel in the brilliancy of the colors - also in niches around the room are some great statues that feel like they are reaching out to you. I was the only English speaking guest as most visitors were Italian or French and they give you a hand held recorder to listen to the tour.
After the Farnese, I speed walked over to the Piazza della Rotonda (Pantheon) for a pizza (this is my favorite piazza in Rome) and then high tailed it back to the River Palace for my tour with Francesco.
Francesco took me to several rooms within the hotel - it is a smaller hotel and seems to be popular with British tourists. I heard some american English, but mostly British accents. It is a cozy hotel with smaller sized rooms and is located a 5 minutes walk to the Piazza del Popolo. There is an above ground tram track that passes right in front of the hotel and the windows are double paned to keep the noise down. But, it is the city so you will hear sirens when they go nearby. The bathrooms are well equipped and all either have a shower or a bathtub with a shower head. The bathroom amenities are great as well. I am really liking that Rome has caught on to having conditioner and perhaps I won't need the huge bottle that is weighing me down as Italian hotels usually only have shampoo. The SkyTV at the hotel did not have anything in English so I watched the "A-Team" in Italian - I am not sure it could be any better in English - probably funnier in Italian! This is a great choice for the budget minded traveler who wants to be near the Spanish Steps.
Here are some photos from the Campo dei Fiori:

After leaving the River Palace, I was taken to the Rome Cavalieri - it is located in the hills overlooking Rome. It is a HUGE hotel with 370 rooms and is a resort. There is a large area for kids (including a climbing wall), a spa, a 3star Michelin restaurant (closed tonight) and an Executive lounge (which I will visit in the morning). The Executive Level rooms are allowed access to their lounge for snacks all day long, drinks, coffee etc - all complimentary. They have a complimentary shuttle to take you to the Piazza Barberini and from there you can take the subway or walk anywhere in the city. This is NOT a budget minded hotel - by any stretch of the imagination - a bottle of water in the minibar will set you back 8 Euros. I visited the spa and American clients beware - let's put it this way, Italians are not used to the modesty we are, spa-wise.
Here is a view from my room as the sun was setting:

Here are some pictures of the room I had on the 6th floor:

During my tour of this hotel, Maria Laura the assistant manager showed me some standard rooms and then the pieces de resistances- 2 suites. One is where Saudi Princes come to stay and the other - Julia Roberts' home away from home - each go for about 7-9000 Euros a night - yes, a night. Oh, and the Julia Roberts suite has several Andy Warhols (real ones) in it and a retractable roof to go to the 2nd jacuzzi on the private roofdeck. When I book either of those rooms, I will know that Allegra's Idylls has arrived :)
This is a wonderful hotel for those who wish to have a resort feel for their stay in Rome and are most comfortable in the larger chain American style hotels. It is filled with spectacularly precious art (even some of Rudolf Nureyev's costumes are on display) and delicious and unique food offerings.
I dined tonight in the hotel's restaurant, L'Uliveto which is a Mediterranean inspired restaurant and had the "sinfonia di mozzarella,"  a platter of 5 different mozzarellas with a delicious tomato reduction and I had the mezze maniche di Gargnana cacio e pepe - it was THE most flavorful  pasta with pepper and cheese I have ever tasted. I am sure I will be logging some serious time trying to come close to recreating this when I get back to Boston.
Tomorrow is my last night in Rome and two new hotels to be seen - The Hotel Hassler as well as their boutique sister hotel, Il Palazzetto (where I will be staying) that overlooks the Spanish Steps and then on to Firenze!
Buona notte ancora ragazzi!