"Ecclesiastical favourite, sparse and atmospheric, for the contemplative
type"
Address:
Via della
Conciliazione 33,
00193 Roma,
Italy
Telephone:
+39 06 68 65
435
Fax:
+39 06 68 65
435
Rating:
4 star
The Hotel Writes
"The Columbus Hotel is situated on the residential via della Conciliazione only
200 meters from St. Peters Church and the Vatican, guests of the Columbus Hotel
spacious and lovely hotel enjoy a stylized interior fashioned inside a 15th
century palazzo. Spacious public rooms adorned with historic ceiling frescoes
abound. As for the guestrooms, modern amenities include room service, TV,
direct-dial telephone, mini-bar and air-conditioning. There's also a cozy
American Bar, banquet & conference facilities up to 200 and a delightful
restaurant."
Review
Jamie Dunford Wood:
If you're not too fussed about comfort and want to be close to the highlights of
Christian Rome, as well as indulge in some authentic Roman hospitality, the
Columbus is a wonderfully quiet haven from the madness outside. Right on the Via
del Conciliazione which leads up to St. Peter's, it has a series of wonder fully
frescoed Renaissance reception rooms (painted by Pinturicchio) and grand
baronial halls, a delightful garden and loggia restaurant, and walls adorned
with 17th/18thC oils of cardinals, popes and tortured saints. It feels like a
college for cardinals, a few paces from St Peter's, an impression reinforced by
the mostly very plain rooms which resemble upmarket monks cells - cheap wooden
furnishings, a single desk and chair, plain white walls, with a forlorn TV
perched on an unexpected minibar. Bathrooms are tiled and basic, and some have
no tubs. The whole place is perfect for those who yearn for some contemplation
away from the commercialism and modernity of many hotels.
For the full effect go for the terracotta tiled floors of the 2nd floor rooms
- those on the 3rd and 4th floors are sinfully carpeted. Some, too, have more
ornately papered walls and strange grilled balconies. The cheaper rooms can be
small, so unless you really want to flaggelate yourself pay the extra for some
space. Ceilings are tall and the rooms are cool in the summer, though there is
no air-conditioning in the public areas. For those with a Papal pretensions, the
spacious Cardinal Aloisi suite has an ancient coffered ceiling and a red velvet
chaise longue, sofa and chairs.
Durant
& Cheryl Imboden's 