Babuino 181 Luxury Suites — Hotel in Rome

My spouse and I decided to take our family to Rome. Thankfully, we chose to stay at Babuino 181 Luxury Suites for our entire nine day stay. Just a minute walk to Piazza del Pololo and the Flaminio Obelisk (which becomes your homeward bound beacon during your stay). Up the stairs (from the Piazza) and you enter the Borghese Gardens. A five minute walk to the Spanish Steps from Babuino 181's front door. The Babuino Suites are thoughtfully laid out, tastefully decorated with a fantastic AC system and never ending hot water in the shower. But in our family's opinion what truly separates Babuino 181 Luxury Suites are their people.

Maria Chiara, Chabeeka (Silva), Veronica, Joana and Yohanys were so extremely welcoming, kind, helpful and positive we were truly sad departing. Many others made our stay special but I simply cannot recall each name. We had our four adult children with us so we kept the front desk busy- arranging transport to and from the airport (Marco), providing maps to sight seeing venues, restaurant reservations, taxis, closest ATM... they handled every query with a smile.

The hidden gem is Babuino 181's rooftop deck. Breakfast is served daily. Eggs, bacon, yogurt, smoked salmon, granola, Italian pastries, fresh fruit, yogurt, along with an assortment of coffees and teas in a buffet style. They make it easy to grab a great (quick) breakfast before you're off to tour Rome. Valerio was often there working at breakfast and is one of the kindest young men one can meet.

If like us, after a full day of touring The Eternal City, you return, grab a shower, relax, then head back up to the rooftop deck. In the afternoon it is a quiet place to read a book. At 6:00 p.m. the bar opens. Pietro and Luigi were the bartenders during our stay. We enjoyed having a cocktail (or two) before heading off to our dinner reservation. On a beautiful day the awning is open and the light shines down. If the temperature rises, Babuino 181 has a roof that closes, while still allowing much light as the AC cools you down and music softly plays in the background. We even had the pleasure (on the rooftop deck) to chat with Mr. Alberto Moncada who is in charge of Babuino 181 Luxury Suites. Alberto is a lifetime Roman, easily met along with being an elegant man.

I highly recommend any couple, group of friends or large family choosing Babuino 181 as their home base while in Rome. You simply cannot beat the location. Our family enjoyed every minute and had a magical stay. Rome is a spectacular city. The entire staff at Babuino 181 Luxury Suites makes you feel as if you return "home" each day. We simply cannot thank...

Pros||1. We booked a deluxe room that was more than adequate for our needs, as we were mainly there to sleep and eat breakfast.||2. The bathroom was spacious and stocked with Diptyque toiletries—very nice!||3. The king bed was very comfortable and we slept soundly.||4. Breakfast offered a good variety. The chef at the breakfast buffet even asked for our feedback on how to improve the buffet offerings. ||5. Special mention to Alfredo (the Filipino bellman/portman), who was exceptionally kind and made us feel truly welcome. He was, in fact, the friendliest and most helpful front of the house staff.||Cons||1. The walls were quite thin. The first night, it sounded like furniture was being moved above us, and one morning we could clearly hear loud conversations—possibly from housekeeping or the room next door—through our bathroom. It didn’t detract from our sleep or comfort but they were mild annoyances. ||2. The woman at the front desk during the night shift was very unfriendly. She never smiled, came across as intimidating, and made us feel unwelcome. When we asked for dinner recommendations, she only suggested their overpriced sister restaurant (Emme) in the area without providing any alternatives, even though we were the only ones there who needed assistance. When we asked for directions, she simply gestured vaguely with a dismissive attitude so we told her that we would just Google map the restaurant location ourselves. She clearly didn’t want to be bothered. ||3. On another occasion, when we asked her about the best time to leave for the airport considering traffic and taxis, she had the same dismissive attitude and simply told us to be there 3 hours in advance. As seasoned travelers, we already knew that—but that wasn’t our question. Her unhelpful and icy manner reflect poorly on the Hilton brand, and as a Hilton Gold member and Amex Platinum card holder, I expected better.||3. There’s essentially no lobby—just a check-in/out area with no space to...

We had booked a deluxe room at Via del Babuino 181 for 3 nights on 28 February, 1 and 2 March, departing on Monday 3 March. |After we had paid, we found out that we could stay one more night on 27 February. The reply was that they only had a suite at twice the price of the room we had already booked. |I had expected that an attempt would have been made to find a room in one of the other three properties owned by the same operator. |The room did not correspond to any of the pictures we had seen, it had only one window and the 29 sqm included a blind space behind our beds. There was only one chair (the armchair that doubled as a bed was too heavy to move even slightly), but not even a small table, common in any deluxe room. |The bathroom had a constant smell, and ants walked in and around the sink and there was no sound isolation at all. After the first night we said nothing to the reception but when the next day the bad smell continued and the ants were walking around and I was relieved to see Alice at the reception we conveyed (with video and photos) what was bothering us and I asked her to tell it to the manager. After a while Alice, having contacted the manager, conveyed that he was sorry and offered us an aperitif in the evening in the roof garden. We said we don't drink alcohol, so he countered with an offer of coffee, which we again refused because we wouldn't be able to sleep. After that, although we expected a reaction, nothing happened.||On leaving the next day we said that we would never again recommend to our friends and acquaintances the Via del Babuino 181 accommodation, unlike the one in Via Margutta 19, where our stay, for one night was superb, without the price being...