Not a luxury hotel, not even a 3 star hotel, Hotel Santa Prisca is a solid bet for consistency. We have been going there for over 20 years on and off, and it never changes. The rooms are familiar, only the linens have changed, and our favorite staff member, Giuseppe DeLuca is also still there with a warm greeting and great information about the neighborhood and Rome in general. Hotel Santa Prisca is an old fashioned property converted from a convent, at least part of it has been converted into a hotel. The sisters still teach school in the other wing and you can see the beautifully lit stained glass windows of the convent chapel on the top floor each evening. As you may surmise, the rooms are small, but they are comfortable and include a bathroom, desk and closet along with the bed. Rooms are set up for singles or couples, so you won’t find a triple or quad room here.
The hotel is dependably clean and the gardens keep it shaded and comfortable, even when the air conditioning is unavailable. In May it was hot, but the air conditioning doesn’t come on until June and probably throughout the summer until early fall, if the temperatures warrant it. Since all rooms are above ground floor, it was easy enough to just leave the windows open all night, since all hotel guests are respectful of the property and keep quiet, or so it seems. There are lounges available for guests as well as a dining room for breakfast and a bar. You’re also welcome to sit outside to eat any food you may have purchased in the neighborhood. for me the most convenient amenity is a free computer available to all guests.
Breakfast is a matter of choice, you can have the continental breakfast that you paid for with your room rental or opt for cooked eggs or eggs and sausage for an extra fee. Personally we have always gone across the street to Pasticceria Barberini with it’s wonderful pastries and drinks, and not bothered with the breakfast here, but for the sake of this review, I did have breakfast at the hotel in order to take a few photos.
The top photos are of a roll that I always associate with Rome, I believe it’s called a rosetta because the 5 sections remind one of a flower. It is crisp like a baguette on the exterior with a hollow interior and is the roll that was the standard breakfast in Rome along with a cappucino, when I first started traveling to Italy. I still like to spread some Nutella on it. The center bottom photo shows another standard breakfast item in Italy on the bottom section, a dry crisp that we might know as Melba toast. Not much taste, dry as dust, but alright with some butter and jam. I usually slip a package in my pocket to feed to the birds.
The neighborhood is what makes me like this hotel so much. Directly across the street is Pasticerria Barberini that has recently expanded to include gelato and panini, Perilli (see full review on RestoReco), a classic Roman restaurant. Volpetti, the ultimate salumeria along with it’s own tavola calda, Volpetti Piu, around the corner. Within a block is Oasi di Birra the best place for beer and snacks in Rome, Mercato Testaccio with great prices on shoes and handbags as well as items one expects in the local open air markets. There are also a number of other wine bars, pastry shops, gelaterie, restaurants, and businesses that are utilized by tourists including a laundromat, and a camera supply store, where I made an emergency purchase of digital storage chips for my camera, quite an accomplishment considering the age of my camera.
http://www.hotelsantaprisca.it/
| Largo Manilo Gelsomini 25 00153 Rome Italy Tel 06/5741917 FAX 06/5746658 |
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