The First Roma Dolce — Hotel in Rome

We booked the First Roma Dolce last minute when our original hotel in Rome cancelled on us just prior to our arrival. After staying at the Dolce, we are glad this happened. This hotel visit was my best memory of staying in Rome.

The First Roma Dolce is a small boutique 5-star hotel right in the center of busy Rome. It's part of three properties (Dolce, Musica and Arte - within walking distance of each other). The properties, while small and don't have resort amenities (only ~20 rooms each) are modern and offer a five star service.

Note that again, this is central Rome and it is a small hotel. Space is tight everywhere. As such, this property does not have an on-site gym, spa or pool but one of the other nearby sister properties does have a gym (I think the Musica). Guests here are able to use that gym and we were told an indoor pool is being constructed there as well.

Location - Couldn't be better. The location is directly on the main thoroughfare "Via del Corso". All the major attractions are walkable. That said, it's an EXTREMELY busy area - think Times Square busy. As a result it's a little tricky to get a taxi/Uber to drop you off directly in front of the hotel. Additionally, the Dolce it's a complete oasis from the hustle outside. You forget about all of the hustle once you enter the front doors.

Service - I've been lucky enough to travel all over and the staff here is world class. Check in started with a glass of Prosecco and exceptional service. I wish i could remember her name but the person who checked us in also explained our location, how to get to near by attractions and then escorted us to our room and explained everything. It was a great way to be welcomed after traveling.

Room - We had a slightly upgraded room - it wasn't large but there was room for a king bed and a decent sized sofa. I wish there had been more storage but this is Rome. By Rome standards this was a large room. Bedding was excellent as well has housekeeping which did include turn-down nightly. We had a minor plumbing issue with hot water but it only happened once and honestly wasn't any big deal.

Dining - We had breakfast each day in the small dining area and drinks/snacks in evening in the bar area. Both sections offer doors to the balcony facing Via del Corso if you want to see what's happening outside. Breakfast was in a word, incredible. If you can get a rate with breakfast I'd say do it - or like we did book through AMX and use your credit toward this. They do a unique honey paring (7 different types) and the presentation is world class. After the first day, I couldn't wait to wake up and go have breakfast.

Musica Dining - One night we had dinner at the sister property (12 minute walk across the bridge) and it was great. Solid food and an amazing rooftop. I would definitely recommend going here even if you aren't staying at one of the 3 properties - just for the views alone.

Desserts - The most unique thing about this property is it's focus on dolce. The sweets were amazing and delicious and they are all displayed as if they were in a jewelry store. Really cool and you have to try some. I only wish we had time to have done Afternoon tea - it looked amazing.

All in all, while expensive, the First Roma Dolce is totally worth it. After our stay, we are now looking at other Pavillion (owner) properties around the world. ...

I wanted to love this hotel, but there were so many small things that left us feeling disappointed. First of all, the staff were all wonderful. We had absolutely no complaints there. ||Our issue was with noise, both from other rooms and from the street. We were looking for a quiet hotel and with all the food traffic, Street performers doing karaoke using loud speakers, and the early morning trash pickup/Street cleaning, it was incredibly loud. ||We were moved to a different room due to ants in our initial room, but the people in neighboring rooms were incredibly room. They were constantly running back and forth in the hallway, banging on doors, yelling out to each other, and just being loud in their rooms. The doors/hallways of this hotel aren't well insulated so the noise transfers very easily. My husband actually had to go out and ask someone to knock off their noise after we were unable to sleep one night due to the person next door to us locking themselves out and shaking their door trying to get in. The hotel construction made it sound like they were trying to get into our room. She was also loudly talking on her cell phone in the hallway. All of the noise was just incredibly invasive and not restful at all. ||The pillows and bed also left something to be desired. They were just not comfortable. The rooms were also very tiny. We knew that when coming to Europe, rooms won't be the typical huge American sized rooms but these were kind of ridiculous. If we tried to open the suitcase, we had no room to walk. If the chair moved slightly, the door wouldn't open. ||The location of the hotel is good, we walked to everything very easily. But the noise was just not something I was expecting or wanting to deal with. This was our 4th hotel on our trip and all the other hotels in other major European cities didn't have these issues with noise...

Starting three months before we arrived our guest experience was special . Dana our concierge along with no less than 6 other front office/reception team mates made every minute of our upcoming trip to Roma special ! We chose this hotel over dozens of other great old Rome Center hotels based on reviews. My wife and I are huge hospitality people who have hosted many things from 2 to 1000 people at a time. To be on the receiving end of the best hospitality we have ever seen anywhere was special. I wanted this trip to be very special for my wife. I never expected the response I received after just emailing a few simple questions. Over the next three months Dana literally built us a full schedule that had an incredible experience each day but also had plenty of room to breath or explore for the unexpected and wonderful surprises that Roma offers. Rich history, the Vatican, St. Peters, dozens of other incredible churches with so many great artists like Michelangelo and more. The suggestions for experiencing Roman food and more were always incredible ! As you can see from our pictures the experiences with breakfast and more at First Roma Dolce were fantastic and that is how we started each day. The staff throughout the hotel from Front Door, to room attendants and more was first class.|If we are fortunate someday and can return to Roma this will be our home and base of operations for hopefully more friends and family. Great train service just minutes from the hotel connects you to anywhere in Italy for day trips or a two day trip then return. Dana and the team excel at making your stay memorable beyond your expectations. The Pavilions Hotels , their owners, their teams , their mission is something you should...