Rome Cavalieri Hilton Hotel: Relax and pamper yourself
Written: Sep 09 '02 (Updated Dec 12 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Five Star Hotel, Romantic setting, overlooking the "Eternal City
Cons: twenty minute ride to center of town
The Bottom Line: The quiet location, the beautiful grounds, the friendly people, all good reasons to stay here. The Cavalieri is in a class of it's own.
|
|
|
| popsrocks's Full Review: Rome Cavalieri Hilton |
Last year my wife and I decided to celebrate our thirtieth anniversary by going to Italy for two and a half weeks. We belong to the Hilton Honors club and due to traveling on business and pleasure we had enough points to stay at the Rome Cavalieri Hilton Hotel for a week.
This is truly a five star hotel that has so much to offer. We arrived by taxi from the airport, a thirty five minute drive that cost about twenty five American dollars. The Cavalieri Hilton in Rome does not have a shuttle from the airport or the train station. As we drove up the hills to the hotel we knew it was going to be special. And it was! The front of the hotel and the lobby were grand. This is a modern facility with all the charm and grace of the old world.
The help all spoke English and we were soon escorted to our lovely room. It was spacious, well appointed, bright, and had a balcony with a breathtaking view. We could see Rome and beyond!!
We could also see the grounds and the pool below. It was gorgeous looking at the very clean pool with comfortable and ample lounge chairs around it. The property had settings of plants and flowers all around and to my surprise tall palm trees laced the grounds.
The first night we were there we had a special treat. It seems there was some kind of convention going on. We could see from our balcony earlier there was a set up in the pool area for a big party.
We came back to the hotel after spending the evening out to dinner. We went up to our room looked down and couldn't believe what we saw. There was a live dancing water show going on. It was set to music, mostly classics, and it was beautiful seeing the water cascade and flow back and forth to the music while different coloured lights illuminated the water. Then a live fifteen piece band played, followed by a show at the pool complete with fireworks. I told my wife I had all this specially prepared for her in honor of our anniversary. She thanked me, and we decided to go down and have a drink together.
I don't think they have that kind of a show often but let me tell you I am in the entertainment business and I have never seen such a fantastic production as they had that night. It was wonderful. So my wife and I did have a drink at the inside bar overlooking the outside pool. The bartenders were very friendly, the drinks were excellent and fairly priced, at about five dollars each. We were also served a tray with different hot and cold finger foods. Very tasty!
My wife and I chose this hotel for a couple of reasons. We researched it and found it to be one of the very few hotels with a pool. We enjoy touring hard and then relaxing.
This hotel was perfect for two romantics. At night, when there wasn't a huge party, the grounds were beautifully lighted, There is a poolside restaurant the Giardino dell" Uliveto. We ate there two evenings after a long day of sightseeing. It was perfect for us in our everchanging schedule to be able to come back to the hotel, freshen up, change and then have a relaxing dinner. The restaurant was quite nice and the food was good. I recommend going out to the real Italian food in Rome as often as you can though. This was very nice though and reasonably priced, about seventy-five dollars with a drink and tip.
Some mornings we would get up and have breakfast there. It was a bit pricey we thought. I understand they have some kinds of breakfast plans. Ask about it.
The mornings we would eat at the hotel were the days we decided to relax until afternoon and see the city by night. Let me tell you this place is the place to pamper yourself. The pool grounds are gorgeous, and not at all crowded. The lounges were extremely comfortable, and the pool is large, clean, and refreshing. There is an indoor pool complete with fireplace, three whirlpools, private saunas, a turkish bath, and an excellent exercising room that was state of the art, large, climate-controlled, and clean. Many other Spa amenities were available. This place is known as one of the hundred best spas in the world.
They do charge you for use of cushions on the lounges and for towels. I never understood this practice. Just have your prices a bit higher and give them out free.
The room itself had plenty of storage, cable tv, a safe and refridgerator with all the overpriced snacks and drinks you could buy. The bathroom was very large with hairdryers. That's important to know because our electrical appliances don't work there without an adapter. They gave us plenty of towels and an oversized bathrobe each. Oversized is great for me. I have been to places where they put out a bathrobe that fit me like a hospital gown with half my...... sticking out.
Getting into Rome from the hotel was fairly easy. We took the free shuttle into town a couple of times .There are about three stops they discharge and pick up at. They are in the middle of popular site areas. The problem was that they didn't have a schedule that was particularly timely for us. It was perfect for us to get a ride to town and then taxi it from there. I would say we spent an average of twelve dollars per day on travel around the city and to and from the hotel. I had a bad knee at the time and the subways were just not an option for me.
The hotel is just a seven minute taxi ride from the Vatican. If you look on a map you will understand about where the hotel is in ref to the city. It is on the Vatican end. The drive back and forth for us was perfect. We could see things from the taxi and some of the cabbies gave is some commentary. We also enjoyed the quiet hotel after a busy day or night
The concierge was very helpful to us. He made arrangements for some of the museums we went to and also set up a side trip to Assisi that I would recommend. This is only if you are in the city at least a week. There is so much to see in Rome. I understand the concierge may also be able to get tickets to the Popes audience on Wednesday if he is in town. We made arrangements from home months before.
We rented a car for a week to travel through the Italian countryside going through the many little mountaintop towns of the Tuscany area. That's another whole review. It was wonderful. Though I had made car rental arrangements well before our trip I found out they had a car rental service right at the hotel. That was very convenient.
There is a computer available for use, but only one downstairs in an office, stuck in a crowded corner, with people doing business behind you. They said they were going to get the rooms wired but they didn't know when.
One other great thing about the Cavalieri, if you are into fine restaurants this is the place to be. They have a rooftop restaurant with a commanding view by the name of "La Pergola" It has been rated as one of the top ten restaurants in Italy for the past six years. Sadly, we never experienced the place. Do know it is extremely expensive. Most entrees were fifty dollars and up. Gentlemen you do need to have a tie and jacket. Ladies please dress up. Reservations days in advance a must! Even if you are staying at the hotel.
The hotel had a money exchange and it was not much higher than the banks. I generally use my credit card at an ATM for best rates.
We did finally leave the Cavalieri, very reluctantly, but to Tuscany and beyond we did go.
I would highly recommend the Cavalieri Hilton Hotel in Rome. I hope this review was helpful. Please let me know if you ever go.
Other Italy reviews by Popsrocks
Danieli Hotel
Five star Hotel we stayed at when in Venice.
http://www.epinions.com/content_75531980420
Rome
http://www.epinions.com/content_85570719364
Colosseum
http://www.epinions.com/content_82927390340
Spanish Steps
http://www.epinions.com/content_83140644489
The Pantheon
http://www.epinions.com/content_83714805380
Cavelleiri Hilton Hotel
a five star hotel in Rome
http://www.epinions.com/content_75315449476
Pisa
http://www.epinions.com/content_82621599364
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.