Review of Westin Excelsior Rome, by Jamie Dunford Wood

The Westin Excelsior is the classic Via Veneto luxury hotel in Rome, acquired and refurbished by Westin. They have done a magnificent job, as always, with the ground-floor reception areas - oceans of marble, acres of gilt detailing, lashings of Aubusson and a warehouse full of French Empire furnishings. 'Today,' says the brochure, 'all Rome meets at the Excelsior'.

Verdict? A Westin makeover par excellence.

The facilities

The luxury hotel has, predictably enough, all you might need for a comfortable stay away from home. Restaurant Doney is streetside to the fashionable Via Veneto, offering a yummy Mediterranean menu with regularly changing seasonal dishes. h>club doney is a stylish cafe that serves coffee and cocktails, and the Excelsior Bar has live piano music in the evening.

The Westin Excelsior's Roman style spa has a gorgeous indoor pool,as well as sauna rooms and aromatherapy, as well as massage and beauty treatments.

The rooms

Upstairs, everything at the luxury hotel smells new. Wide corridors, sumptuous carpeting and more repro French Empire furniture leads to each of the 327 rooms, most in the traditional Westin L-shape with large closets and pink marble bathrooms. The colours are pure luxury hotel - mulberry, duck blue fabric walls, swagged beds, busy carpets and inlaid wood.

The Deluxe rooms have two windows and two sinks, and most are high ceilinged, some even with fireplaces.

All rooms at the Westin Excelsior have Wi-Fi and premium TV channels, as well as best-of-the-best toiletries, bathrobes and slippers. Many rooms have balconies with city views.