Review of Hotel d'Inghilterra, by Jamie Dunford Wood

Delightful hotel near the bottom of the Via Condotti, a short walk from the Spanish Steps and the Piazza del Popolo. Downstairs a series of intimate connecting bars, sittings rooms and restaurants give onto one of the most fashionable streets in Rome, and the place is a constant hub of activity. Antiques, some nice pictures and comfortable seating arrangements give it the air of a buzzing, homely hostelry, which is why the English like it so much. The bar is intimate, a modern designer cafe opens onto the street, and the vaulted breakfast room below stairs is delightfully frescoed. Upstairs the 89 rooms are off long, narrow, warm corridors. They are richly decorated - perhaps a little over decorated considering the tone downstairs, with the ubiquitous red/gold Roman fabrics, terracotta upholstery, repro furniture, beige carpeting, and faded mirrors. The rooms are dark - not just from the shutters, but because the streets here are narrow and ceilings are on the low side. Best rooms are on the 5th floor - they get the most light, escape the worst of the nighttime revelries in the street below, and have terraces, but if you've don't intend to get up you might prefer the taller windows and ceilings of the 2nd floor rooms. While downstairs feels that this is the place to be, upstairs is removed and feels romantic, cosy and intimate, perfect for that illicit weekend. Walls come plain and in patterned papers, and rooms have small bathrooms in tobacco-coloured marble. The standard 'classic' rooms are small and claustrophobic and suited only to the most intimate encounters.