Rome has always been a difficult city for chain hotels. Few chain hotels are available in the city center, and the only ones that are available have outrageous prices. At Starwood, a Westin Excelsior never under 350 € per night and a St. Regis which lowest rate is close to 700 €.

At IHG, with the InterContinental De La Ville rebranding to Rocco Forte, it’s not better with a largely overpriced Indigo… So when this Meridien was available for booking, with a rate of €125 per night, I jumped at the chance.

The hotel having a perfect location, 20 minutes walk from the Vatican (tested), 20 minutes walk from the Trevi Fountain (tested) and 35 minutes from the Colosseum (not tested), so it was an ideal opportunity to visit the capital of my origins of which I know only too well the airport in which I often transit!

Booking

The reservation was made on the SPG website, using a Hot Escapes rate. 125 € per night with breakfast included, so it’s unbeatable for a 5 star chain in the center of Rome.

The price difference is so glaring that my expectations were actually quite low for this hotel.

In addition to my reservation on the SPG site, I made a Your24 request: when you are a SPG75 member (more than 75 nights per year) you can keep your room until the same time as your check-in time. Here, check-in at 11pm, so the room could be available until 11pm. No result for this request: I simply never got an answer.

Arrival

We arrived by Uber from Fiumicino airport. Our flight arrived 40 minutes late, so we arrived at the hotel almost at 1am.

When you arrive at this time of the day, you want to check in as quickly as possible… This was surprisingly the case, despite the recent opening of the hotel, which could lead to a lack of fluidity in the use of Starwood tools.

In this case, the hotel has been open for… 3 days!

More than an opening, it is an independent property that has been taken over by Starwood. Most cab drivers and Uber actually know it by its former name, the Visconti Palace.

As with every Starwood stay, we were upgraded, in this case to a Suite, and the standard amenities were offered to us: points or a welcome gift(a cake box, LOL!)

Room

The Suite assigned was absolutely new: the decoration is sober and modern, even if it sometimes lacks cachet.

It is in two parts: a lounge area, in a recess after the entrance, and the bedroom area directly accessible.

The living room is somewhat cramped: it exists, in fact, because of the architecture of the building and, in the end, is not used for much since it is not separable from the room (neither by a door, nor by a curtain) and it has no table or desk.

The bedroom is quite spacious, but also lacks a desk. It seems that business travelers are not welcome!

The bed is extremely comfortable, to the best standards of the chain.

The bathroom is functional, the shower spacious but of a rather cheap design with its plastic tray. The plumbing, at this level, has finishes that leave something to be desired.

The big problem with this room is the soundproofing. First, the windows: the noise of the cars outside is clearly perceptible throughout the night in the room, and really disturbing to sleep.

Then, the walls and doors: we heard our neighbors talking in the middle of the night and the cleaning ladies talking in the hallways in the morning. It’s really unpleasant to be woken up on the weekend by such noises.

To finish, a virtual visit of the room, in video :

Lobby and common areas

The lobby has also been freshly renovated, although the colors are rather dull.

The bar looks nicer, but the lack of life dissuades to settle there.

I have not tried the property’s fitness room.

Restaurants

As far as catering is concerned, I only tried the breakfast, in the appropriate room located in the basement of the hotel.

In addition to the gloomy side of such a windowless room, the quality of the services is very insufficient: bread and pastries of bad quality, lack of variety in the hot offer, no fruit salad, staff difficult to “catch” to order drinks and that does not clean the table or very little.

Departure

There was no mention of Late Check-out or my Your24 request. I was only interested in Your24 because breaking your day to check out at 4pm is useless. So I checked out before noon and left my luggage at the reception.

No surprises, no unexpected charges on the bill.

No problem either with the luggage, easily recovered at my departure at 6pm, and placed directly in the Uber I ordered.

Conclusion

An excellent value for money, but services that must necessarily improve, especially the restaurant, to attract the demanding clientele of this French chain.