The new InterContinental Rome Ambasciatori Palace hotel was well located and provided an incredible experience so close to everything.
If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit card please click here. Both support liveandletsfly.com.
If you haven’t followed us on Facebook or Instagram, add us today.
Location
The InterContinental is on the northern side of central Rome in the Diplomatic district and just south of Villa Borghese, a large park with ancient ties. It’s a five-minute walk from the Barberini stop on the Roma metro subway and just ten minutes on foot to the Spanish Steps, and about the same to Trevi Fountain. From the airport, it took us about 45 minutes on weeknight just after 7 PM.
Address: Via Vittorio Veneto, 62, 00187 Roma RM, Italy
Phone: +39 06 47493
Property
As a full-service luxury hotel, the property includes a fitness center, a restaurant, two bars, concierge staff and service throughout. The showstopper is Charlie’s rooftop bar with sweeping views of the Eternal City, and Scarpetta NYC which I will cover later.
Charlie’s on the 6th floor is open year-round despite the open nature of the bar. Our visit in early March was comfortable despite it being just 50 degrees outside.
The lobby is captivating with a custom chandelier, it’s own separate bar, a concierge desk, and reception.
One note on service at the hotel. Wow! It was over the top. We stay in many five-star properties and this one stood out. I can express it with the dinner reservations our concierge made (both with suggestions and from restaurants we have been to in the past) to follow-up on our air conditioning when we couldn’t determine how to operate the thermostat, but the best is just one image. That image is of the doorman, in a white three-piece suit with a top hat standing in the middle of a very busy road attempting to flag a taxi while also calling them through two separate handheld systems in his hands.
Benefits
As an IHG One Diamond member, we were treated to an upgrade from a standard room to a premium room. We also received a late check-out offer (though we didn’t need it) and of course daily breakfast in the hotel restaurant, Scarpetta NYC. We were also treated to a bottle of prosecco and some welcome chocolates along with a letter from hotel management.
Breakfast was the only aspect of the experience that let us down some. There’s an old thought: don’t go to Poland and order Mexican food, and perhaps that should have applied to selecting the avocado toast from the menu. The poached eggs and toast were great, and so was the steamed greens, but the avocado was clearly not fresh and it was quasi-guacamole from a tube.
The breakfast buffet lacked the delivery quality for which it was intended. My recommendation would be to order something local from the menu and don’t skip the coffee.
Restaurant
Scarpetta NYC is the Rome location of the famed New York City Italian restaurant. I have tried to get into Scarpetta when I have been in New York or Miami but have failed. As a hotel guest, we were given priority reservations and actually ended up eating there twice, once to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday. It was excellent, though if there is only one thing you should take away from this entire review, please let it be this: just order the Pomodoro pasta. I tried a seafood pasta, squid ink, my daughter ordered one of the best salads she’s ever had – none of them compare. Even in a city filled with excellent Pomodoro, this is far and away the best I have ever had.
Room
The Premium Room we received was exceptionally large. While ours had just a Juliet balcony, my mother-in-law’s room featured one more substantial that looked over the hotel’s entrance with seating for two. The hotel knew my infant son was staying with us and had a crib in the room for us.
The TV is equipped with smart features that make watching Netflix a breeze – really helpful for families – a coffee and tea station, as well as a mini-fridge. Boxed water was refreshed nightly at turndown, and slippers at the foot of each side of the bed.
Bathroom
The bathroom in this Premium Room was top-tier. A large glass shower was separate from the soaking tub. Excellent toiletries were available including some left for our kids.
At the end of the room was a water closet including a bidet. My one complaint of this room is that there is just one door to the whole bathroom, but the water closet could have a separate pocket door and should. There’s no reason to exclude others from using the rest of the bathroom when the toilet is already separated.
Other Suites
I requested to view some other rooms the hotel offers while I was on-site and will share some of those images below.
Junior Suite
One Bedroom Suite
Value
The hotel ranges from €400-900/night depending on the season and occupancy of the hotel. That’s a wide swing, but Rome is incredibly busy during the summer while a random Saturday night stay in early December is far less busy. Point redemptions have a far more limited swing on those same test dates costing 95,000-120,000/night. There’s no question that the rooms are larger than others in the city, the service is exemplary, and the benefits for IHG status holders include extras such as upgrades, breakfast, and welcome amenities, on the low end it’s a great value, and on the high end it’s fair for the market. That said, I wouldn’t redeem points here unless I had millions to burn because I do think there are better values in the system for redemption nights elsewhere. The property is a member of IHG’s Lifestyle & Luxury collections which include early check-in, late check-out, a $100 USD amenity, daily breakfast, and an upgrade if available at check-in. That program doesn’t cost anything more than its Best Available Rate but does require booking through a qualified travel agency.
What do you think?
Diamond members in the IHG program can’t count on breakfast being included at all IHG Hotels. An IHG hotel can shut down its restaurant or claim the restaurant or cafe area is “separate”/“independent” of the hotel and refuse to provide the Diamond breakfast choice benefit and IHG customer service can’t be counted on to fix that even when such IHG hotel has some room rate plans that include breakfast or breakfast on the go.
Recently heard from an IHG Diamond who said that IHG’s Diamond breakfast benefit can even be a joke compared to the Hilton Gold/Diamond “breakfast” credit benefit. They were only offered 600 IHG points as the Diamond amenity “choice”. 600 IHG points is an insult. And to add injury to insult, the hotel even has a “destination fee” on award nights that it charges for “benefits” of irrelevance for the stays.
So even Diamond Ambassador elite status members should first get it in writing from any given IHG hotel about breakfast before even making a reservation at the hotel if they want complimentary breakfast as the Diamond choice benefit.
I am not sure what your comment has to do with the Intercontinental in Rome. Also, are you suggesting that a IHG Diamond Elite guest can be denied their free breakfast at a Intercontinental Hotel? Or at a IHG hotel? There is a difference, and I believe the free breakfast is supposed to apply at Intercontinental Hotels, and not at all IHG properties. Have you been denied a free breakfast as a Diamond Elite member at a Intercontinental Hotel?
Seen it denied at IHG hotels that are among the brands that generally are required by the program terms to provide Diamonds with breakfasts as an amenity choice. Includes IC, CP and other such brand IHG hotels.
It was repeatedly disappointing to see how — with regard to breakfast — IHG Diamond is worse than Hyatt Globalist and even surprisingly Hilton and Marriott in at least one case. If IHG wants to fix this kind of situation they should require hotels that sell breakfast-inclusive rates or room-billable breakfast add-ons to offer no less than the same for Diamond breakfast.
Man almost make you wonder if all this status crap is just a big racket you fell for!
There are companies like Dorsia which can help get hard to land restaurant reservations in NYC and Miami. Also, many of the other big city “in restaurants” with hard to get reservations will often consider accepting reservations when “full” if a reliable party is committing to spend $X00 minimum per seated person that is well above the average tab per person at the restaurant for the meal/meal time.
The InterContinental Rome Ambasciatori Palace is a perfect blend of historic charm and modern luxury. The rooms are elegant and comfortable, with great city views. The staff is incredibly attentive, and the location is ideal, close to major attractions. Dining here is a culinary delight. A wonderful choice for a memorable stay in Rome.
Looked at this property for the summer. Absolutely crazy expensive and no points redemption. No thanks!!!
Did you check in July and late August? We just stayed at it in April and the manager told me those are their slowest months. Kyle’s review doesn’t really do it justice as it is one of the best hotels I have stayed at in the world. The service and staff are outstanding, and it’s in a wonderful neighborhood. Most importantly, it was recently thoroughly renovated and everything feels brand new.
@Micahel: You didn’t think I did it justice? I have a photo of the doorman doing everything short of laying down in traffic to get us a taxi. I never feature rooms we didn’t stay in but did here. We were exceedingly happy with the property and while I still don’t think it’s a good use of points and breakfast was a little uninspired for us (look at the “avocado” and tell me you disagree) I felt it reflected an overall very positive experience.
Kyle- regarding Scarpetta: I started eating at Scott Contant restaurants since 2002 when he opened L’impero in Tudor City. I agree, his preparation of Pasta Pomadoro is without question the best I’ve eaten. His fricasé of mushrooms with polenta should also not be missed.
And since you are in Pittsburgh, the meatballs at Joseph Tamballini’s near the zoo are outstanding, and the gnocchi at DiAnoia’s on Penn Ave are melt in your mouth.
“Scarpetta NYC is the Rome location of the famed New York City Italian restaurant. “ Let me see if I understood it correctly. You go to Rome to eat at a NYC based Italian restaurant inside an American chain hotel. It is basically a fancy chain with several locations around the world. In a city you can eat at local historical restaurants like Armando Al Pantheon and Da Cesare you chose to eat at an international Italian chain.
@Santastico – You didn’t understand it correctly. I didn’t go to Rome to eat at a New York based restaurant. We ate all over that glorious city, some places I have covered before and some places I haven’t. I was just pointing out that it was impressive they had a location in the hotel and I was delighted to be able to try it after striking out in Miami and New York.
Thanks for the clarification. Interested to learn some restaurants you visited while there.
Unless I missed it, Kyle’s review doesn’t mention the fact that the hotel was recently renovated top to bottom, so everything feels new and fresh. We stayed at it in April for a week and it was outstanding. The staff was top notch, and as a Diamond Elite we were also upgraded into the same room as Kyle. However, our experience with the breakfast was much better than Kyle’s. If I would have one criticism of the breakfast is that there was too much – everything from danish, deserts sushi, green salad bar, fruit bar, cereal bar, prepared foods, etc. It was too much and a few of the prepared foods were just okay. We found ourselves ordering off the menu a few days.
Charlie’s on the 6th floor was a lot of fun too, and the hotel is in a excellent neighborhood directly across the street from the US embassy, and a short walk to Villa de Borghese villa and park.
Prices are high, but we booked a few months in advance and managed to get a couple nights with points (around 88k each night), a night at 450 euro, and the rest at 725 euro a night.
I’ve stayed at Intercontinental hotels all over the world and this one was clearly one of my favorites. It’s worth it!
Just saying it’s on the Via Veneto right off the bat would be enough to understand how well the hotel is situated. Maybe the author does not understand the importance of the Via Veneto in Rome…. his first time there?
I enjoyed the review, and thought the comments added more context and location clarifications. Thx everyone