Roman Holiday
I’ve always found Rome the most romantic city in the world (if it’s not, wahey, too much information, my first son was conceived there, in the Trastevere, after a languorous lunch of artichokes, risotto, and nocciola ice cream). And now, 20 years after that magical moment, I’ve found the most romantic and chic hotel in Roma: the Portrait Suites, in the Via Condotti, in the heart of the shopping district, with heart-stopping views over the Eternal City from the roof terrace.
Unfortunately, in the intervening 20 years from our first Roman holiday, my husband and I have accumulated rather a lot of baggage: hillocks of luggage and three large children.
So when we turned up at the Portrait Suites, which is an understated homage to the legendary shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo, decked out in flecked greys and cool limestone, with bathrooms to delight the most diva-ish of movie stars, it was impossible not to feel, 1. Unstylish and 2. British, as dapper, snake-hipped busboys rush out from the limestone archway on the Via Condotti, an olive stone’s throw from the Spanish Steps. Luckily the dropdead gorgeous staff didn’t flinch too obviously at the rumpled omnishambles of a family, in trainers and clutching the British newspapers and plastic bags, that is fouling the doorstep.
They whisk us up to the smartest suite I’ve ever seen in real life or on the silver screen, with huge beds and bathrooms and screens. We scream with delight and bounce on the beds, and then disaster – my husband decides to cut his toenails using the vanity kit. On the bed. Blood spurts everywhere, including on an expensive- looking, muted grey silk rug.
We have the most exquisite time, both in and out of the hotel: we breakfast on the roof terrace, with its bird’s-eye view across to Mussolini’s Wedding Cake, hard by the tolling bells of the Trinità dei Monti, then spend the days wandering through the streets in search of lunch, dipping in and out of shops, trying and failing to find affordable threads to smarten us up to Roman standards.
But always at the back of my mind is a panic about the rug: should I hide it, or confess?
When we check out, the staff and hotel has been so attentive that I feel honour-bound to tell them we’ve soiled the rug, making sure to mention it was my husband’s fault. I should have known that a place devoted to the style of the peerless Ferragamo would take this, as everything else, in its well-shod stride.
Around £400 per night for a suite: Portrait Suites: Via Bocca di Leone, 23, 00187, Rome, Italy: 39 06 69 38 07 42, www.lungarnocollection.com
Unfortunately, in the intervening 20 years from our first Roman holiday, my husband and I have accumulated rather a lot of baggage: hillocks of luggage and three large children.
So when we turned up at the Portrait Suites, which is an understated homage to the legendary shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo, decked out in flecked greys and cool limestone, with bathrooms to delight the most diva-ish of movie stars, it was impossible not to feel, 1. Unstylish and 2. British, as dapper, snake-hipped busboys rush out from the limestone archway on the Via Condotti, an olive stone’s throw from the Spanish Steps. Luckily the dropdead gorgeous staff didn’t flinch too obviously at the rumpled omnishambles of a family, in trainers and clutching the British newspapers and plastic bags, that is fouling the doorstep.
They whisk us up to the smartest suite I’ve ever seen in real life or on the silver screen, with huge beds and bathrooms and screens. We scream with delight and bounce on the beds, and then disaster – my husband decides to cut his toenails using the vanity kit. On the bed. Blood spurts everywhere, including on an expensive- looking, muted grey silk rug.
We have the most exquisite time, both in and out of the hotel: we breakfast on the roof terrace, with its bird’s-eye view across to Mussolini’s Wedding Cake, hard by the tolling bells of the Trinità dei Monti, then spend the days wandering through the streets in search of lunch, dipping in and out of shops, trying and failing to find affordable threads to smarten us up to Roman standards.
But always at the back of my mind is a panic about the rug: should I hide it, or confess?
When we check out, the staff and hotel has been so attentive that I feel honour-bound to tell them we’ve soiled the rug, making sure to mention it was my husband’s fault. I should have known that a place devoted to the style of the peerless Ferragamo would take this, as everything else, in its well-shod stride.
Around £400 per night for a suite: Portrait Suites: Via Bocca di Leone, 23, 00187, Rome, Italy: 39 06 69 38 07 42, www.lungarnocollection.com
10 OTHER things to do IN ROME…
Pack stylish, comfy shoes – there is a lot of walking to do…- Book a tour for the Vatican Gardens Città del Vaticano (below), which features flowers, parterres and a kitchen garden: www.vaticanstate.va
- Make an early-morning visit across the Tiber and visit the Orto Botanico garden in Padua: 39 04 98 27 21 19
- Sit in the Piazza Del Popolo and try to spot the two identical churches: www.rome.info
- There is so much in the historical Colosseum besides the building itself. Book ahead: www.archeoroma.beniculturali.it
- Find Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta – look through the keyhole of the priory and discover its secret – and Via Santa Sabina (Piazza Pietro d’Illiria I) and Via di Porta Lavernale (Aventino)
- Visit Trevi Fountain (below). Throw in your pennies, then explore – it’s a great area for a late lunch: www.trevifountain.net
- Run down the Spanish Steps until you’re halfway down the Via Condotti. The oxygen rush will help you to forget all about the massive luxury-shopping bill: www.rome-tour.co.uk
- Enjoy total indecision in this wealth of gelato at Il Gelato di San Crispino: www.ilgelatodisancrispino.it
- Splash out on a box at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma: www.operaroma.it
- Head for Rome Cavalieri and cool off in its Olympic-size pool: www.romecavalieri.com
Francesca Houslander