Residenza Napoleone III, Spanish Steps, Central Rome, Italy - Explore & Book
"If you can drag your eyes away from the mouthwatering boutique fronts of Rome's Via dei Condotti for a moment, you'll see behind you some large and private wooden gates. They may not gleam and glitter like the window displays, but what lies behind them is dazzling.These doors are a portal into a former, more splendid age. Doric colonnades lined with statues lead up to a wing of the 16th-century Palazzo Ruspoli. Above the all-marble staircase, imperial busts gaze onto fabulous antiques, and rare Gobelin tapestries rub shoulders with 500-year-old oil paintings (one of which artfully conceals a cinema screen). This is where Emperor Napoleone III and his mother, the former Queen of Holland, lived. Now it's home to the welcoming and unpretentious Princess Letizia Ruspoli, who has made 2 apartments (sleeping 2-5) available to the select few. If you have always wanted to stay somewhere fit for a king - or an emperor - this is your chance. Highs A secluded haven on Via dei Condotti, the epicentre of Italian high fashionTextiles and décor that radiate traditional royalty; we felt like kings during our revisitLovely staff who cannot do enough for you, and a personal butler who unobsequiously caters for your every whim, and breakfast is included in the ratesAll modern comforts (iPods, DVD library, lift) to ease museum fatigue, plus silent air-conditioning to ensure a good night's sleepStunning views of Rome from the Roof Garden Suite Lows The Napoleone Suite's bathroom and kitchenette are less spaciousSuch luxury comes at a hefty priceSome might find the décor a bit OTT, but this is a royal residence!" - Michael Cullen
