Reviews
The Hotel Fontanella Borghese is included in the following prestigious guides: KAREN BROWN, DOVE, MICHELIN and GAMBERO ROSSO.
Read some reviews about our hotel.
FROOMMER’S REVIEW
Close to the Spanish Steps in the exact heart of Rome, this hotel surprisingly remains relatively undiscovered. Much renovated and improved, it has been installed on the third and fourth floor of a palace dating from the end of the 18th century. The building once belonged to the princes of the Borghese family, and the little hotel looks out onto the Borghese Palace. It lies within walking distance of the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Piazza Navona. The location is also close to Piazza Augusto and the Ara Pacis. In the midsize bedrooms, plain wooden furniture rests on parquet floors, and everything is in a classical tradition, comfortably modernized for today’s travellers. Half of the bathrooms come with tubs, the rest with showers. The staff of the front desk is one of the most helpful in central Rome.
“LE FIGARO”
Pas facile de trouver cet établissement très discret, au deuxième étage d’un immeuble du cinquecente (qu’on appelle ici immodestement ) appartemant aux Borghese, en plein centre ville. Une petite plaque sur la façade c’est tout. Raffiné, discret, lumineux; eccellente adresse.
GUIDE ROMA HOTELS
Just a few minutes walk from the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona and just around the corner from the designer shopping district, this newly restored hotel is located on the second floor of a historic villa, which once belonged to the Borghese Princes.
Walk through the archway into the courtyard with its honey-coloured walls, and you will immediately feel the atmosphere of this elegant and very tastefull small hotel. The owner has spared no expense in the renovations, using the best of materials, from beautiful marble for the floors to the exquisite curving wrought iron staircase, winding upwards from the foyer. Even the walls accommodate the lovely water colours of a local roman painter.
We can honestly say that this is a pearl amongst Roman hotels and we are thrilled that our clients also like it and constantly compliment FONTANELLA BORGHSE on the friendliness of its staff.
“REISEMAGAZIN”
Er ist der berühmtesten Adelspaläste Roms. 1580 erbaut, diente er der mächtigen Familie Borghese über Jahrhunderte hinweg als Stadtresidenz. Im ehemaligen Gästehaus der Familie gleich vis-à-vis liegt unser Hotel. Der Eingang befindet sich versteckt im Hinterhof, flankiert von Palmen und einer Marmor-Diana. Im zweiten Stock des 500 Jahre alten Hauses tut sich dann enie großbürgerliche Zimmerflucht auf. Cinzia Pighini – eine lebhafte, löwenmähnige Römerin wie aus dem Bilderbuch – hat auf zwei Etagen ein kleines Hotel eingerichtet und umsorgt ihre Gäste mit fröhlicher Anteilnahme, herzlichen Umarmungen und perfekten Englischkenntnissen. Eine eiserne Wendeltreppe verbindet die beiden Stockwerke miteinander; sonnengelbe Stoffe, Türrahmen aus altem, gemaltem Marmor-Imitat, Kristallüster und Wandteppiche strahlen Wärme und E leganz aus. Die Zimmer sind eher klein, aber mit Stil und schönen Stoffen gestaltet. Entzückend ist die Nr 205, ein Eckzimmer mit Grand Lit und einer Fensterbank, auf der man sitzen und das Treiben in der Gasse beobachten kann.
“RED FOR THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE”
The reasonably priced Fontanella Borghese is a secluded hotel in the heart of the most glamorous and romantic part of Rome. Ring the doorbell and you will be ushered into a small courtyard, complete with statue, where a tiny lift whisks you up to reception. The rooms are a decent size, its furnishing still look new and the bathrooms gleam. Within a 10 minutes-walk lie the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Campo de’ Fiori. And, of course, Via Condotti, where the shoppers at Prada, Gucci and Fendi are as fascinating as the objects on sale. The area is also full of atmospheric restaurants serving up delectable Roman food. The hotel meets three vital romance requirements; huge, sublimely comfortable beds; breakfast in your room at no extra cost; and a fully stocked mini-bar. The courtyard rooms are breezy and quiet, and the very cool, friendly desk staff – who don’t flicker an eyebrow if you emerge from your room at 1pm – make excellent recommendations for restaurants and places to visit.
FIGARO
From Tripadvisor, some reviews from our kind guests:
- "You can't beat the location and value. Between the Spanish Steps and Piazza Narvona. You are also close to the Vatican and tons of great restaurants. The rooms are spacious, with nice bathrooms (both by European standards)".
- "Very comfortable, spotless hotel on two floors of a palazzo accessible by elevator from courtyard. Large room with kingsize bed, nice bathroom with quality toiletries and large, soft towels. Nice closet with extra pillows and blankets. Basic breakfast with eggs, cold cereals, pastry and excellent coffee including cappuccino on request.
Staff were very friendly and helpful".
- "We stayed here for 12 nights in February. The owner and staff are all very nice and helpful. Rooms are low key but have a good size and very good price value. They were also quiet, which for Rome is rare".
- "I recently spent two nights at this hotel with two extremely well-travelled cousins. Service was fast, sensitive and efficient. When we arrived almost 2 months after our booking, everything was just as expected. The rooms are not enormous, but clean and quiet. We could walk everywhere, from the Spanish Steps to the Via Condotti (and the stunning 'Fendi Palace') to the Pantheon, stumbling across amazing piazzas along the way. Highly recommended".
- "This hotel is walking distance to all the great sites. The people are very friendly and helpful (especially Kaled!!), and the hotel is very well maintained! We (from the US) stayed in a quad with 2 young kids, and it was plenty of room for a 4 night visit into Rome. Definitely recommend!".
- "My thanks to our friends who recommended this hotel to us. I can understand why they always (18 years and counting!) use this hotel when in Rome. Staff, location, quality, consideration, knowledge, helpfulness, etc all 100%. They all made our stay in Rome so good".
-"This was a wonderful choice for our stay in Rome. The hotel is centrally located, minutes from the Pantheon and the Spanish Steps. Its not a fancy place: the hotel is on the third floor, but the rooms are good sized, clean, comfortable beds, and relatively quiet given the central location. The owner and staff were very helpful and friendly. We would make this our base in Rome again".
-"You can't beat the location and value. Between the Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona. You are also close to the Vatican and tons of great restaurants. The rooms are spacious, with nice bathrooms (both by European standards). While the furnishings quality, they are dated. The breakfast is standard European, in other words good but not much food. Where this hotel really stands out is service. The staff is friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. The housekeeping is also quite good".
-"Italian charm, located away from major tourism yet still 5-10 min. walk away from the Piazza di Spanga. Not much for views but you could hear accordians playing nightly outside the shuttered windows. "Khaled" a staff member at the front desk was especially helpful and kind with making our stay at Fontanella a pleasant one".
-"Located halfway between the Spanish Steps and Vatican City, Borghese Hotel strives to make every guest's stay the most enjoyable. A nice continental breakfast starts your day off on a good note, and the myriad of good restaurants within 100 yeards makes a great ending to each day. Hotel sits back off of street, and entrance is thru a courtyard and up to the second floor in a very small elevator. Staff (and the owner) handle every request from recommendations for dinner to directions to having taxis ready when you want to leave in a most efficient manner. My wife and I will definately return here".
-"My wife and I stayed two nights June 7-8 on our 25th Wedding Anniversary. I highly recommend this hotel to anyone staying in Rome. The cost was reasonable and the location -- walking distance to Piazza Novella, the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and Spanish Steps -- was even better. What sold me on the hotel was a recommendation in Frommers that said the front desk was one of the most helpful in Rome. We certainly found that to be the case. The night manager, Khaled, was particularly helpful. He would hand draw detailed maps for us, giving us recommendations on places to see, restaurants, etc. Before we got to Rome I must've sent a dozen emails, asking questions about the best tour of the Vatican, the Colosseum and more. The Hotel responded quickly and gave us great ideas. The hotel itself is in an old Borghese family villa and has beautiful marble and wood parquet floors, very nice furnishings, updated bathrooms and an eye-catching steel and glass spiral staircase leading up to the room floors. I believe the hotel was a 2-3 star (because they don't occupy all the floors of the buidling) but I'd call it closer to a four store. The breakfast was quite nice and again served in a beautifully appointed salon. There is free wifi and a quaint courtyard outside the hotel that shields it from a lot of street noise. I cannot emphasize enough the great location -- you could even walk to the Vatican (probably 20 min) if you like. If you're staying in Rome, I'd highly recommend this hotel. I use Travel Advisor all the time and travel frequently, I have written many a review about horrible hotels. This one is one the opposite end of the scale. The last day we met the owner and her son who spent a fair amount of time talking with us to ensure our stay had been satisfactory. They have a nice website: www.fontanellaborghese.com"
