Residenza Ruspoli Bonaparte

For the price of a regular 5 star hotel we stayed in the Residenzia Ruspoli Bonaparte. 4 nights in the Emperor Suite and the final night in Queen Hortensia suite. Don't expect a restaurant, a bar or pretty much anything in a regular luxury hotel - except the bathrooms and beds which are top class. Continental breakfast (basically coffee, juice and croissants) is brought to your Suite. But the experience was priceless - you can stay in a real palace with real history - just like you always dreamed. A sense of adventure helps - the lobby is dark, the floors creak, you can smell the history and you are never sure who the people you meet on the grand marble staircase are - a prince and princess, maybe? What an adventure though, your friends will be jealous when you Instagram the pictures of your 200m2 gilded room with a vaulted painted ceiling. The Emperor Suite is cosy with a bedroom, library, verandah and terrace. Queen Hortensia Suite is a huge room, as grand as grand can be - worth the extra for one night - every hotel room after this will be a disappointment. Oh, and it is right in the centre of the centre of Rome, everywhere is walkable.

This hotel was so regal, it made us feel like royalty, like stepping back in time! We stayed in Queen Hortense's room, and it was enormous! The bathroom was nice and modern, very clean, with a nice shower and tub. There was a smaller adjoining room with 2 blue daybeds, which we used for our luggage, and dressing room area. The size and layout was perfect. The main bedroom area was very large, with a high ceiling and the old chandelier was gorgeous! It had a modern tv. One downside was that the room smelled old and musty, including the bedding. But I suppose one should expect this, knowing this place is, after all, an ancient palace. That is, of course, why we booked this room in the first place. Also the wifi was honestly terrible. It definitely needs to be updated. We couldn't get connected in the suite at all and had to go to the lobby area to use it. We also had to ask for help with the safe, as there were no clear instructions on how to use it, and it worked differently than safes we've used in other hotels. The breakfast was ok, but very minimal- coffee, juice, yogurt, toast, and crouissants. It felt really cool to stay in a place with such a history, and it made us feel "special." The staff was also very nice and accommodating, and more than willing to assist with anything we needed. Overall, this is a nice hotel and will give you a very historical experience in Rome.

I visited Rome with my best friend for the second time on 13th Sep - 17th, it is just my favourite city in the world and I couldn't wait to go back. The majority of our stay was spent in an air bnb (which was beautiful) but we decided to spend our last night at residenza ruspoli as a treat! To be honest I'm glad it was just the one night, if anything I wish we had stayed where we were. I definitely should have researched better, but the photos are very misleading and make it look so grand that I got a bit swept up in it. When you arrive you are shown around the fantastic old staircases, dining room and halls which look exactly like a museum and is pretty spectacular but that is where it ends. I think realistically it was a shoddy attempt at making money opening up some of the rooms as a hotel, it would do better as a museum. We stayed in the princess pia suite, which was just awful. Dirty sheets and old furnishings which smelt bad. The table in the "dining area" was just a piece of chipboard wood with an old table cloth thrown over it. The room was dark, dusty and a little bit creepy! I'm just glad we left when we did, its just a shame we ended our trip here.

The location is amazing and close to everything. The decor makes you feel like you are in a museum. So does the cushions in the furniture and the caulking in the bathroom. Place is beautiful. Arrival was difficult as the hotel is not well marked. Look for the little portoiello bell on the door. Air conditioning is non existent but you can open the windows and temperature is nice. Breakfast is twice as expensive as the restaurant around the corner and just weird since you are the only ones in the dining room. Overall. Ok but not worth the money.

We stayed in the Queen Hortense Suite the last week of March and how wonderful it was The transport organised by the residenza to and from the airport was excellent and when we saw our suite we knew we had made the right decision to stay here. The rooms were beautiful, large,clean,and with stunning features - from the wonderfully painted ceilings to the candleabra, paintings, furniture etc Location right near the Spanish Steps cannot be beaten as all the sites are well within walking distance and there are lots of excellent restaurants nearby We felt very safe at all times We were fortunate to meet the princess and her daughter who were very friendly. We felt like royalty ourselves staying in such a beautiful palace surrounded by history - as someone who taught Napoleon 111 to 6th formers it was fantastic to stay in the palace where he used to live with his mother We would like to make a special mention of Greta who was efficient, professional and courteous at all times Thankyou Greta , we very much hope to visit you again