Supremely located hotel has two Rome icons on its doorstep

The hotel

NH Collection Roma Palazzo Cinquecento, Rome

NH Collection Roma Palazzo Cinquecento, Rome, with remnants of an ancient wall in its garden.

Check-in

Rome’s Termini Station is heady and heaving with footpaths, roads and doorways around it crammed with travellers wielding wheeled suitcases into taxis or onto buses. But across from this chaos stands a pinkish oasis in the rosy afternoon light. The grand Roma Palazzo Cinquecento not only offers first-time arrivals glimpses of all this ancient city has to offer – including sixth-century ancient ruins in its gardens – it might also be one of the most conveniently located hotels in the world, with a mix of transport options just outside its door and the Colosseum and Roman Forum a walk away.

No mistaking where you are … a mural in the hotel foyer.

The look

The NH Collection boasts hotels in capital cities that are not only luxurious but also occupy unique, character-filled buildings with authentic twists. The imposing Roma Palazzo Cinquecento in the Piazza dei Cinquecento fits the bill perfectly. The building was once the headquarters of Italy’s National Railway Company, but dismiss any ideas of a serviceable admin block: this is a dramatic, stylish hotel with a stunning rooftop terrace (complete with bar and restaurant) and ancient history smack bang in its private gardens. The hotel underwent a thorough revamp in 2015 giving it modern conveniences wrapped in art nouveau grandeur. A fedora-topped doorman will usher you into the elegant lobby with marble floors, plush burgundy armchairs, firework light fittings and a sculpture mural.

The room

We are in a suite, one of 177 elegant guest offerings of various configurations across the hotel. Ours has neutral tones and views of the ancient ruins of Mura Serviane (the ancient city wall) in the hotel gardens. There’s a full-length mirror, lounge, desk and flat screen TV, plus a kitchen area with fridge, drinks station and Lavazza coffee machine. The separate bedroom also has a TV and a “Sleep Better” king bed. The large bathroom has a generous bath and separate rainshower, The Collection bathroom products and towelling robes.

Plush bedroom in the Junior Suite.

Food + wine

When in Rome, the struggle is not about finding exceptional, authentic, reasonably priced food, it’s deciding where to go. The plan is to try the eat streets “across the Tiber” in Trastevere but one look at the hotel’s terrace with its tablecloths, potted geraniums, candles and beautifully dressed waiters shaking cocktails and ferrying pasta from a roof kitchen under pinkening skies and we are not moving. The hotel also offers the Grand Tour restaurant with classic Italian cuisine. Trastevere is in our sights the next night, but again we are waylaid, this time by drinks, pizza, gelato – and some fortune-telling – near the Piazza Navona. Next time.

Out + about

It’s been many years between visits to the Eternal City but hotel staff are here to help, producing maps and steering us to the hop-on hop-off bus and walkable sights such as Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica. We only have two days, and Rome wasn’t built to be seen in just one, so we ogle the Colosseum and the Vatican from afar, choosing instead to walk the Ponte Sant’Angelo up to the Castel Sant’Angelo, enter the Leonardo da Vinci Exhibition and revisit the Pantheon where we’re reminded that Michelangelo himself was once a tourist here. Time seems to stand still as his “review”, that the building “was built by angels not by men”, is quoted to us onsite centuries later.

Sit among Rome’s rooftops on the terrace.

The essentials

Piazza dei Cinquecento, 90, 00185 Rome. Phone [phone] Junior Suite $940 a night, including breakfast; Superior Rooms, including breakfast and tax $427. Free use of gym and Wi-Fi. Accessible rooms available. See nh-hotels.com/en

The verdict

A perfect hotel for first-timers to Rome or for those keen to reacquaint themselves with this eternally beautiful city.

Rating

★★★★★

Highlight

Dusk on that candlelit terrace where you can watch Roman rooftops turn a rosy pink with a cocktail in hand.

Lowlight

Convenience can be a doubled-edged (Roman) sword. You may be bamboozled by touts outside Termini Station.

The writer travelled as a guest of the hotel and Norwegian Cruise Line, see ncl.com