Maalot Roma

“Perfection!”

This hotel was PERFECTION. From its location just down the block from the Trevi Fountain, to the warm welcome we received upon arrival, to the beautiful room, and the friendliness of every single staff member. I like nice hotels. REALLY nice hotels. I’d never been to Italy so was flying blind sel… more

This hotel was PERFECTION. From its location just down the block from the Trevi Fountain, to the warm welcome we received upon arrival, to the beautiful room, and the friendliness of every single staff member. I like nice hotels. REALLY nice hotels. I’d never been to Italy so was flying blind selecting something in Rome. Compared to some of our other stops (Naples, Tuscany, Florence), the hotels were just more expensive across the board, so I wasn’t really looking for a deal - I wanted something that looked a bit unique but also very luxe. Hotel Maalot absolutely fit the bill. It was a bit chaotic at the beginning because our cab driver dropped us off at the corner and we couldn’t easily figure out where the hotel entrance was. The street is a busy walkway, so we pulled our suitcases over to a side wall and tried to get our bearings. Turns out where we were standing was directly across from the hotel entrance and two bellboys spied us looking confused and ran across the street to rescue us and get us inside! Thank you to them! If you do ever decide to go, the sign for the hotel is This hotel was PERFECTION. From its location just down the block from the Trevi Fountain, to the warm welcome we received upon arrival, to the beautiful room, and the friendliness of every single staff member. I like nice hotels. REALLY nice hotels. I’d never been to Italy so was flying blind selecting something in Rome. Compared to some of our other stops (Naples, Tuscany, Florence), the hotels were just more expensive across the board, so I wasn’t really looking for a deal - I wanted something that looked a bit unique but also very luxe. Hotel Maalot absolutely fit the bill. It was a bit chaotic at the beginning because our cab driver dropped us off at the corner and we couldn’t easily figure out where the hotel entrance was. The street is a busy walkway, so we pulled our suitcases over to a side wall and tried to get our bearings. Turns out where we were standing was directly across from the hotel entrance and two bellboys spied us looking confused and ran across the street to rescue us and get us inside! Thank you to them! FYI, the sign for the hotel is very understated and at waist level just in front of the unobtrusive door, so hard to spot if the street is crowded. Look for the large “Don Pasquale” sign at the top of the building that indicates the restaurant inside the hotel, one door in from Lucciano’s Gelato on the corner. Enter under that Don Pasquale sign and you’re in the right place! We stayed in the Terrace Suite on the top floor, the only suite with an outside area. It didn’t have a view to speak of, but it was nice having an additional space to go out and feel like you were in your own private rooftop Italian garden. The room itself looked just like the pictures online - everything felt fresh and crisp and new (or very well kept). Having the two bathrooms is something we always look for when traveling, and the marble was just as stunning in person as it looked in the website! Tip: as an American, I like to have both a top and bottom sheet, not just a bottom sheet and then a duvet. I get hot at night, but still need a light cover, so when I throw off the duvet in the middle of the night, I still want a sheet over me. You will need to proactively request two sheets (and may need to use Google Translator to leave a note in Italian, or walk into the bedroom with housekeeping and show them what you mean). As a default, there is no top sheet in most European hotels. The room has its own coffee maker and lots of included drinks and snacks, and they will also bring you a tea kettle and lots of varieties of tea to have in the room if you just ask. FYI if you are looking to use the living area couch as a bed for someone in your party - it doesn’t fold out and was just long enough for my husband (who is 6’1”) to stretch out on. The concierges were unbelievably friendly, helpful and accommodating. Special shout out here to Fabrizio, Giovanni and Edwin for helping us with restaurant reservations (and calling multiple restaurants for us to try to get us squeezed in) and giving us other insider tips and tricks to make our first time in Rome approachable and fun. Besides exploring the food locally, we also ate breakfast every morning in the Don Pasquale restaurant on the first floor of the hotel (it was included in the room rate I selected), and it was fabulous! Highly recommend paying the little bit of extra $ to add it on - if you’re like me, you don’t want to be “figuring out” what to eat first thing in the morning, and the food was superb. We also ate dinner at Don Pasquale one night, and it was definitely a memorable experience. Highly inventive, delicious and beautifully presented. I’m a bit of a foodie and have pretty high standards, and I was very pleased (and sometimes blown away) with everything we tried. We also had the most lovely servers for all of our meals - thanks to Livia, and a very special thanks to Patrizia for always remembering what I liked, and teaching me some Italian every day ❤️. Location wise, the hotel was a perfect spot for us and the stuff we wanted to see. Literally down the block from the Trevi Fountain, relatively centrally located between the Spanish Steps in one direction, and the Colosseum/Forum/etc. in the other direction. All completely walkable if you’re in ok shape and don’t have any mobility issues. Final note - the day we were checking out, a transit strike was planned. One of the concierges (a very nice woman whose name I didn’t get) intercepted us when we returned from dinner the night before to let us know, and arranged a reserved taxi for us that night for the following day, as she said taxis would be in very high demand since buses and metros would not be running. It was just a thoughtful touch of thinking ahead - we, of course, had no idea a strike was planned - that helped make our transition out of Rome that much smoother so we could be on time for the next leg of our trip. That’s the kind of service I appreciate when staying at a fine hotel. Bravo! Bottom line: I never mind paying good money for great value, and that was our stay from start to finish. I would go back to Hotel Maalot in a heartbeat. I know it’s not exactly a budget option, but if it’s within reach, don’t hesitate, stay here! understated and at waist level just in front of the unobtrusive door, so it’s hard to spot if there are a lot of people in the street. Better to look for the large “Don Pasquale” sign at the top of the building that indicates the restaurant inside the hotel, one door in from Lucciano’s Gelato on the corner. Just enter under that Don Pasquale sign and you’re in the right place! We stayed in the Terrace Suite on the top floor, the only suite with an outside area. It didn’t have a view to speak of, but it was nice having an additional space to go out and feel like you were in your own private rooftop Italian garden. The room itself looked just like the pictures online - everything felt fresh and crisp and new (or very well kept). Having the two bathrooms is something we always look for when traveling, and the marble was just as stunning in person as it looked in the website! Tip: as an American, I like to have both a top and bottom sheet, not just a bottom sheet and then a duvet. I get hot at night, but still need a light cover, so when I throw off the duvet in the middle of the night, I still want a sheet over me. You will need to proactively request two sheets (and may need to use Google Translator to leave a note in Italian, or walk into the bedroom with housekeeping and show them what you mean). As a default, there is no top sheet in most European hotels. The room has its own coffee maker and lots of included drinks and snacks, and they will also bring you a tea kettle and lots of varieties of tea to have in the room if you just ask. FYI if you are looking to use the living area couch as a bed for someone in your party - it doesn’t fold out and was just long enough for my husband (who is 6’1”) to stretch out on. The concierges were unbelievably friendly, helpful and accommodating. Special shout out here to Fabrizio, Giovanni and Edwin for helping us with restaurant reservations (and calling multiple restaurants for us to try to get us squeezed in) and giving us other insider tips and tricks to make our first time in Rome approachable and fun. Besides exploring the food locally, we also ate breakfast every morning in the Don Pasquale restaurant on the first floor of the hotel (it was included in the room rate I selected), and it was fabulous! Highly recommend paying the little bit of extra $ to add it on - if you’re like me, you don’t want to be “figuring out” what to eat first thing in the morning, and the food was superb. We also ate dinner at Don Pasquale one night, and it was definitely a memorable experience. Highly inventive, delicious and beautifully presented. I’m a bit of a foodie and have pretty high standards, and I was very pleased (and sometimes blown away) with everything we tried. We also had the most lovely servers for all of our meals - thanks to Livia, and a very special thanks to Patrizia for always remembering what I liked, and teaching me some Italian every day ❤️. Location wise, the hotel was a perfect spot for us and the stuff we wanted to see. Literally down the block from the Trevi Fountain, relatively centrally located between the Spanish Steps in one direction, and the Colosseum/Forum/etc. in the other direction. All completely walkable if you’re in ok shape and don’t have any mobility issues. Final note - the day we were checking out, a transit strike was planned. One of the concierges (a very nice woman whose name I didn’t get) intercepted us when we returned from dinner the night before to let us know, and arranged a reserved taxi for us that night for the following day, as she said taxis would be in very high demand since buses and metros would not be running. It was just a thoughtful touch of thinking ahead - we, of course, had no idea a strike was planned - that helped make our transition out of Rome that much smoother so we could be on time for the next leg of our trip. That’s the kind of service I appreciate when staying at a fine hotel. Bravo! Bottom line: I never mind paying good money for great value, and that was our stay from start to finish. I would go back to Hotel Maalot in a heartbeat. I know it’s not exactly a budget option, but if it’s within reach, don’t hesitate, stay here!

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