Review of Hotel Capo d'Africa, by Jamie Dunford Wood

The design Hotel Capo d'Africa in Rome is a real gem. Bright and clean, it provides a welcome alternative to the usual heavy fare in Rome without the price tag of the de Russie or the pretensions of the Alephi or the ES. A former school, the design hotel is located on a quiet residential street just east of the Colosseum, a few paces from the magnificent and under-visited San Clemente church. A five minute stroll to the Colosseum, you have a quiet location with more than its fair share of Roman magic, packaged up in the best of modern design. This is a classic that will last well beyond the next fad.

Two palms guard wide steps set back from the street. Inside, a series of black rubber roses stapled to the wall - an installation by Paolo Canevari - sets out their stall. However, for the design-weary, this is as far as they go. Inside, plashes of colour - primary colours, in paintings, furnishings and fresh flowers, brighten the neutral tones of the walls and floor. A highlight of the design hotel is the large and meandering roof terrace - impossibly romantic at night, when candles flicker on the tables, and the neighbouring medieval church of Santissimi Quattro is lit to perfection - this is what Rome is all about.

The facilities

The Centrum Bar is as sensitively designed as the rest of the hotel, and serves up preminum drinks as well as its signature cocktail the Caput Mundi (gin, apricot brandy, Aperol aperitif, grapefruit juice, and grenadine.)

Capo d'Africa's terrace is draped with honeysuckle and peonies and other greenery in season, and opens up onto the bright breakfast room.

The rooms

There are 56 rooms at this design hotel. In the hallways and up the stairs, they have mixed up a magical and luminous lilac paint scheme which wafts you up to your room. Here, high ceilings and the judicial use of linear elements in the design of the modern furniture and side tables gives the whole ensemble a balanced, formal feel, while managing to retain a softness often lacking in design hotels elsewhere in Rome.

Honey coloured wood is used throughout - both for the furnishings and the doors - with single prints or modern paintings. About a third of the Capo d'Africa's rooms have independent power showers, with the others having good wall mounted models. The doubles seem large, a result of the high ceilings. A junior suite boasts its own private terrace - perfect for honeymooners.