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HOTEL DE RUSSIE Via del Babuino 9 Rome, Italy Tel: 011 39 6 328881 Fax: 011 39 3288-8888 |
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Review: HOTEL DE RUSSIE, Via del Babuino, 9, PIAZZA DEL POPOLO, juts out into Rome's largest piazza, downhill from the verdant Villa Borghese and a 10-minute stroll north of the Spanish Steps. This property now wears the laurel as Rome's Best Hotel. Though it is the successor to the famed Grand Hotel de Russie et des Iles Britanniques of the 19th century, very little of that era remains except for Valadier's treasured terraced gardens. Taking cues from the Four Seasons in Milan, the Costes in Paris, and the Delano in Miami, Sir Rocco Forte and his sister, Olga Polizzi, have created a vibrant, contemporary Roman home for a faultlessly fashionable clientele. (Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise were in residence at inspection.) They reopened the hotel in spring 2000 after spending millions on a complete refurbishment. The brilliant staff is top-notch and includes the former general manager of the Eden and the former executive chef of Relais Le Jardin at the Lord Byron. An enormous silver-gilt mirror reflects the curving reception counter and highback love seats of the lobby. The sumptuous, well-designed lounge is a showcase of Mrs. Polizzi's signature hue, greige, a subtle neutral tone that works beautifully with the cream and ebony decor. The restaurant, Le Jardin du Russie, offers expensive, healthful Italian fare amid honey-hue walls, chic Murano chandeliers, and crisp table settings. Lavish buffets and attractively priced business lunches draw locals, and most paparazzi would pay dearly for a few minutes in the courtyard, Rome's place to dine in the summer. The cocktail lounge is large, trendy and sophisticated, rich with polished chrome and black decor, amethyst-tone sofas, and a grand piano. The unique martini menu offers more than a dozen choices, including a "Martini de Russie" served with caviar. Drinks at smart cafe tables under muslin-draped umbrellas are a summertime treat. The spa encompasses an indoor pool with balneotherapy, a sauna, massage facility, and health and beauty treatments. Five meeting rooms, all with courtyard access, hold 70. The business center provides limited services, and valets park cars. Wide cream-color hallways, soaked in natural light and hung with white marble bas-reliefs, set the stage for the elegantly minimalist accommodations. Asian and African motifs subtly perk up the refined modern decor. Custom appointments dress the generously proportioned quarters, of which nearly one-third are suites. The dark wood dressers, superb lighting fixtures, signed Mapplethorpe photos, dramatic window treatments, and velvety headboards are crisply realized. For guests immune to the modern charms of minimalist decor, there are some more traditional units available. Each room has either a large queen bed, a king, or a pair of oversized twins. The smallest Classic rooms are roomy enough for most people, Executive rooms are 20 percent larger, while the Deluxe rooms add even more space. Appurtenances run to phones with voice mail and data ports, interactive TVs, minibars, and electronic door bells and "Do Not Disturb" signs. The luxurious marble baths show ornate mosaics, magnifying mirrors, scales, hair dryers and luscious toiletries. Rooms on the lowest two floors feature sisal rugs on beautifully polished ebony parquet. The 1940s-inspired seating looks great in the roomy sitting areas. For quiet, request rooms facing away from Via del Babuino. Suites are capacious, and many boast views from terraces or balconies. This hotel makes the Hassler, or any of the Via Veneto hotels, for that matter, look like dinosaurs from another era. 127 units. From Deluxe-Cruises.us's subscription to the Star Service, independent and privately written reviews of the world's best hotels. |
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