Maalot Roma
Hitting a high note
A trickle from the Trevi
Maalot Roma offers a kind of Roman Holiday in reverse, where you’ll come to the Eternal City to be enshrined amid regal luxury. But, this former home of 19th-century opera composer Gaetano Donizetti isn’t a diva – the friendly-as-can-be staff encourage you to make yourself at home, whether you’re taking an eau de nil banquette underneath the wide-spread chandelier in the nerve-centre restaurant, sampling your way through the rum collection in the cosy bar or are being jet-massaged in your room’s marble-lined shower-cum-hammam. Decor hithers and thithers between eras and styles, with a look that’s British colonial and English country garden, by way of the Grand Tour. Furnishings are bespoke in luxe materials, rooms are lined with richly hued fabrics, and Baroque paintings with irreverent modern details line the walls. And, it may be steps from the Trevi Fountain but it’s intimately tucked away, so all this splendour is just for those in the know.
Facilities
Rooms
30, including 15 suites.
Checkout
12 noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
More Details
Rates usually include a generous breakfast with homemade cakes, breads, cereals, yoghurts, fresh fruit, juices, coffee and tea.
Also
There’s a lift in the hotel and one of the rooms is suitable for guests with mobility issues, although there is a step into the shower.
Fitness Center
Free Internet Access
Laundry
Pet Friendly
On-Site Restaurant
At the Hotel
Lounge, bar, small library, fitness room, free WiFi. In rooms: HD flatscreen TV, custom walk-in closet, free minibar.
Our Favourite Rooms
Pick a colour: walls range from lipstick-on-your-collar red to blue as the Tyrrhenian here. And, Maalot has a palazzo’s penchant for maximalism, with gilt-edged custom furnishings in rich woods, a British colonial flavour with animal and floral prints and a smattering of small statuettes and art books. Plus fabric-lined walls for a cosier feel and jazzy arabesque marbles in bathrooms. So, you’re guaranteed drama whichever you pick. We do love the One-Bedroom Suite which has a bath tub – the only one in the hotel – for its navy and chartreuse colour scheme and separate sitting room with a fireplace; and of the top two suites sitting at the penthouse level, the Terrace just pips the post for its outdoor space.
Spa
Decked out in ebonised wood and mirror walls, the 100sq m basement fitness centre is a stylish space to tone up in. Technogym equipment includes a Kinesis machine, rowing machine, bikes and treadmills. Yoga and Pilates classes will also be available and a personal trainer can motivate you.
Packing Tips
Bring your opera glasses for perusing the paintings and getting a closer look at the little library of Taschen tomes in the reception.
Also
Maalot is meant to feel like a true Italian home, and it’s been designed to ensure it feels like your own; real keys are used over cards, paintings are inspired by the Marvin Gaye song Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home), and minibar drinks are free.
Children
Welcome…in as much as bambini are warmly welcomed into most Italian homesteads; however, as it’s inappropriate for them to prop up the bar, there’s little for them to do here. Although staff can arrange babysitting for €50 an hour.
Gallery
Food & Drink
Top Table
For date night, retire to the smaller, more softly lit bar; for melodious gestural conversation, pick a pew in Don Pasquale.
Dress Code
You’re not required to dress on ceremony, but hanging out here gives you an excuse to pack like a prima donna.
Hotel Restaurant
Don Pasquale Cucina and Bar is the thrumming heart of the hotel where guests enter on arrival. It’s named after a farcical opera about foolish pursuits of love written by Gaetano Donizetti and the decor is suitably theatrical and witty. Silken banquettes in eau de nil and scarlet and tables topped with mirrors and locally made tiles are overhung by a chandelier that branches out across a vaulted Crittall glass ceiling. And on the walls are cheeky works of art – say, Stanley Gonczanski’s old-school portraits where subjects sporting ruffs and frock coats have been embellished with lobster hats, biker tattoos and balloon animals. Plus Massimo Listri’s large format photograph of Rome’s highly ornate Palazzo Colonna. Once you’ve mused on the walls, muse on the menu, which has the kind of simply elegant dishes the Italians do best (courtesy of chef Domenico Boschi): say, codfish and panzanella, tortelli filled with aubergine in a tomato sauce or linguine with zucchini flowers and anchovies. And finish with the cultural crossover you didn’t know you needed: a sweet taco with a tiramisu-style filling.
Hotel Bar
You can drink in Don Pasquale, but there’s also a bijou bar set to one side with a glowing triptych of mirrors behind the counter, intimate pairs of armchairs and artworks on the walls that nod to ancient marble reliefs – and some more poking fun at the past with Marie Antoinette brandishing an ice-cream cone. It’s awash with Italian wines and the barkeep makes a refreshing, vermouth-soused herbal spritz (and other tasty mixed sippers using house-made infusions and syrups), but the hotel’s tipple of choice is rum – there’s a laser-focused selection here and they can arrange a tasting of some out-of-the-ordinary picks.
Last Orders
Breakfast runs from 7.00am to 11am, lunch from noon to 3pm and dinner at Don Pasquale Cucina and Bar from 6.30pm to 10:30pm. The bar servers will top you up till midnight.
Room Service
If, like us, you dream of heaped plates of pasta, you’ll be delighted to know that there’s round-the-clock room service to satisfy your cravings even in the wee hours.
Planes
Both Rome Fiumicino and Ciampino are about a 40-minute drive away from the hotel and many services from across Europe and beyond fly directly to both. Transfers for two from Fiumicino can be arranged for €90 each way.
Trains
Rome Termini, the city’s busiest station, is a 10-minute taxi ride or 20-minute walk away – past museums, art galleries, the Quirinale Palace and Trevi Fountain. Trains arrive direct here from Pisa, Naples, Bologna and Florence, so you can easily combine your stay here with another of Italy’s historic cities.
Automobiles
With so many must-see landmarks within walking distance and the many car-free ZTLs to contend with in Rome, having a car will likely hinder more than help – plus, as civilised as the Romans were, they didn’t really take convenient parking into consideration.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
Perhaps only Romulus himself is more connected with Rome than the hotel is. With a forceful flick you could potentially land a coin in the Trevi Fountain from your window (two if you want to fall in love, as the legend goes). Although Via delle Muratte runs alongside the hotel and is one of the busiest streets in the city, it may be safer just to walk the minute trip it takes to see the fountain in full flush. You can easily tour Rome’s greatest hits on foot from here. To the north there’s the Spanish Steps, Villa Borghese and its lush gardens and gilded gallery, and fashion parade Via Condotti; to the east is the National Gallery of Modern Art, Quirinale Palace Gardens and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore; to the south is the huge Forum complex and the Colosseum; and to the west is the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Vatican. Once you’ve ticked those off, brave the Mouth of Truth, gaze in awe at Galleria Sciarra’s Art Nouveau courtyard, go underground to see a temple dedicated to the myste§rious cult of Mithras (in the Piazza Bocca della Verita), see the Caravaggios at the Palazzo Barberini and Rome’s present-day art stars at Maxxi Gallery. See the setpieces of Cinecittà, the locations of iconic scenes and even meet some of the extras on a cinematic tour with Eleonora Baldwin, the granddaughter of Neorealist legend Vittorio de Sica. And cap your night by touring the city’s best cocktails – or ask the hotel to arrange a special meal in one of Rome’s noble houses – one for unpacking the evening gown.
Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt
This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .
