Spanish Steps and Surroundings

The Spanish Steps Suites are located, bizarrely, right next to the Spanish Steps, in the stunning marble-paved heart of Baroque and Renaissance Rome. These 138 steps, certainly the most famous in all of Italy, lead from Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See up to the Church of Trinità dei Monti and are regularly the venue for special events throughout the year, as well as providing the backdrop for whiling away the balmy evenings for hundreds of locals every night when there’s not a special event going on.

The view from the top is spectacular. So, in fact, is the one from the bottom. Before the steps stands Bernini’s ornate fountain, La Barcaccia, depicting a sinking boat. Legend has it that the fountain was so designed because the ancient aqueduct could not provide enough pressure to make the water spout vertically.

This vibrant district of the Centro Storico di Roma is abundant with life, artisan boutiques litter the streets from here to Trastevere across the river. Nearby Via Condotti has made itself the home of Italy’s top designers, with anyone who really is anyone opening up shop there. Valentino even has his head office right between our suites, in a magnificent building simply called the Valentino building. There are top restaurants and budget trattorias – even the historical landmark that is Italy’s first ever McDonalds.

The spectacular Piazza Navona is to the south – another of Rome’s most famous piazzas - where frozen in time is the artistic result of an infamous feud between the aforementioned architect of the Barcaccia, Bernini, who rears his Fountain of the Four Great Rivers up against the looming figure of the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, built by his rival, Borromini. A little further on is Campo de’Fiori – market by day, menagerie by night.

From the Via del Babuino Suites we can see Piazza del Popolo - the piazza of the people – another popular hang out spot for nocturnal Romans and venue for concerts and, traditionally, protests. A short walk in the other direction brings us to the famous Trevi Fountain, the most stunning fountain in the world, commissioned by Pope Urban VIII in 1629.

On your travels, you may also trip over the Pantheon – the world’s most finely preserved Roman Temple (primarily so because it was donated to the Church by Emperor Phocas in 609 AD).