489. Rome | Palazzo Manfredi

When in Rome, I stayed at Palazzo Manfredi which I believe was the perfect hotel for my visit to this beautiful city! They are a part of Relais & Chateaux, centrally located just steps away from the Colosseum, with a Michelin-Starred rooftop restaurant, and a wonderful team of staff to ensure you have the best experience possible in Rome. They are a boutique hotel with just 12 rooms and 2 suites. I stayed in a Master Room which faced the Colosseum. I would recommend getting this room if you stay here; going to sleep with a view of the lit-up Colosseum was just magical!

Check-In: I took the train to Rome, then took a cab to the hotel which was only about 10-15min. Upon my arrival, the front office manager came out to greet me and brought my luggage inside. Walking in the hotel felt more like walking into a beautiful home than an actual hotel. The space was small and intimate and very luxuriously furnished. Check in was done at an actual desk. I was offered a seat and provided with details on everything regarding my stay. He then gave me a map of the city, indicating where we were located and circled all the major attractions with directions on how to get to each/how long it would take to walk to each, etc. I found this very helpful - it seems like such a simple service but with my previous hotels I always had to ask them for the map and directions (if I needed them) and I'd always need to do the research myself on which places to visit.

Then he asked if I wanted to visit the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill and said they could provide the tickets for me. Of course I was planning to go so he ordered the tickets for me (which were ready within a few minutes). The tickets allowed me to bypass the lines and were also valid for the two days I was there. I was also asked if I wanted to visit the Vatican (which they could've booked as well for me on a private or group tour) but unfortunately I didn't have enough time. Once again this may sound like a simple service but it did save me time and stress; not having to worry about a thing, and have someone else do the planning for me! I was really impressed with that since my visit to Rome was decided on pretty last minute, and I didn't do any prior planning for it.

I was then brought up to my room and welcomed with a bottle of champagne and this platter of delicious treats.

This is actually the view from my bathroom window! So I got a nice view even while showering lol. The ruins right in front is Ludus Magnus, otherwise known as the training school for the gladiators who fought in the Colosseum.



Master Room: The room is furnished in a palette of white and greys. The finishes were sleek and sophisticated but at the same time felt cozy and welcoming. There is a large plush king-sized bed, with very plush and comfy bathrobes and slippers. The bathroom has a beautiful marble vanity, rainfall style shower and modern designs. The mini bar was very well stocked, but on top of that they also provided a couple large bottles of water each day.







Turn down service included a chocolate on the pillow and an array of things: a pillow menu, room service menu, shoe cleaner, mouth wash, shaving cream, tomorrow's weather forecast, etc.




Breakfast: There is no better way to start the day than with a delicious breakfast overlooking the Colosseum! The breakfast was buffet-style with a variety of pastries, meats, cheese, fresh fruits, etc. You could also ask them to make something you didn't see; I asked for a porridge. I got a really nice table on the terrace. At first I thought it was open but it is actually enclosed with glass, which was good as it was kind of rainy and sooo windy that morning. The atmosphere was very nice; quiet and relaxing with Hotel Costes lounge music in the background (always a big plus for me!)

Aroma Restaurant: I also had lunch there that day. Aroma Restaurant (also the same place as my breakfast by the way) is a stylish, 5 Star Diamond Award-winning, Michelin-Starred restaurant led by Chef de Cuisine, Giuseppe Di Iorio. The restaurant is very popular and tables often book up months in advance, for dinner especially. The same menus are offered for both lunch and dinner.

Dishes use only the freshest local ingredients to capture the essence of the region. There is a tasting menu available, as well as an a-la-carte and gluten-free menu. Everything is carefully prepared to stimulate and satisfy your senses.

Along with the exceptional service and delectable cuisine, are breath-taking panoramic views. There is also a wonderful ambiance which makes for a most memorable meal. I would definitely recommend at least one meal here if you are visiting Rome (even if you are not staying at the hotel), but be sure to reserve your table as far in advance as possible!

So to start off...they offered me some bread with olive oil, made in-house. You could also choose which herb you wanted with the oil. The bread was so good. I especially loved the cheese bread.


The amuse-bouche


For my starter, I got the marinated Fragolino fish with sweet potato cream, terra crumble and corn chips. I never had Fragolino fish before or knew what it tasted like but this was the type of restaurant that I knew whatever I ordered, I would enjoy. This dish was incredibly flavourful and a nice mix of different tastes and textures. I thought the corn chips were a bit of an unusual addition but it actually complemented the fish quite well.


The intermezzo


For my main, I got the spaghetti with tomato confit, aubergines, basil and seasoned ricotta cheese. This was amazing. It had a really smokey taste/smell (which I love). I had pasta like every day in Italy and this was easily the best one I had there.


For dessert, I had these tiramisu cubes which is described as: Guanaya 70% chocolate cubes of tiramisu on a crumble and “Arabica” coffee sponge. They were delicious as well. If I wasn't so full by that time, I would have wanted to try one of their famous souffles. The woman at the table beside me had ordered one, and it looked so good.

I was here alone and my whole lunch ended up being about 2 & a half hours long I think..I thoroughly enjoyed it. The staff were really welcoming and attentive. They were always prompt at refilling my water, and knowledgeable about all the dishes.


View before I went to bed on the final night..I was quite relieved that the rain started only after I got back to the hotel.



This is the lobby of the hotel.

Check Out: I was so sad to leave Palazzo Manfredi & Rome! The night before I left, the woman at front desk kindly created a detailed schedule for me the next morning. My flight back to Toronto was in the morning, so I'd have to check out and leave the hotel very early to get to the airport. She had set for me a wake up call, room service breakfast, a time for them to collect my luggage, & time for my cab to arrive.

The morning of, I had breakfast in bed before leaving. The porter brought my luggage down for me a few minutes before I went down myself. When I got down there, my cab was already waiting with my luggage already inside, and the porter was standing by holding the door open for me. After a quick and seamless check out, I was off to the airport.

Here is a final photo which shows the hotel (building on the left) in front of Ludus Magnus.



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488. Rome | Snapshots Part 1

Here are some photos taken when I was in Rome. I was looking on my map of Rome to get all the names right for this post..and realized just how little of the city I've seen. Like I probably saw less than 10% of all the sights during my days there. That was my second time in Rome actually. The first time I went when I was 17 years old...& when I went again last week, I realized I have almost no recollection of anything from my first visit. I only vaguely remembered the area around the Pantheon, and pretty vividly remembered the gelato shop I went to during my first visit lol. Even the area around the Colosseum was different from what I remembered. I enjoyed the city more this time but I hope to be back again in the near future, to stay longer and visit more places.


Some welcome treats and champagne from my hotel

Walking out to explore for the first time. This is how close my hotel was to the Colosseum! My posts are really out of order. I first visited the Roman Forum. I don't have photos of that for this post, but I will post about it next time.














Really love that light blue building.


This is the gelato shop I remembered going to during my first time in Rome. Then I took a photo in front of the Pantheon with one of those (fake) gladiators.

I had to be pretty patient taking this photo..waiting for those rare seconds where there were no cars or people in the way of a good shot (well, as little as possible). That was one major difference between Capri and Rome. In Capri, the streets were always pretty quiet and people didn't stay out too late. So I was able to take a lot of nice people-free photos. In Rome, there's always tons of people everywhere so it was harder to take nice shots.

Settling in for the night with some champagne by myself. That was my first time opening a bottle of champagne and it took way more effort and way longer than it should've lol. At least now I know how to do it though.


Loved going to sleep with this view...

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487. Capri | Snapshots Part 1

From now on, my posts from the Italy trip are not going to be in chronological order. I will still post about everything though but I'm going to mix up the different cities so it will be more interesting for you (and me to post about). Here are some random photos taken from Capri. It was my first time visiting there. I spent 4 nights there which is just enough time to see all the attractions and do all the major excursions (like visiting Pompeii and the boat tour) but I wish I had some more time there to just relax. I hope to be back someday. It would be nice to spend a month there or so.





Can you see what I was taking a photo of here? He was staring at me until I took the shot.


My little office set up. Wish I could actually live there!


By the way if you missed it, full review here

The juice stand beside my hotel. I unfortunately did not have such a good experience here. I ordered an orange juice for 5 euros (which was also the tiniest cup ever - it was like in one of those small cups you get from a water cooler). After I got it I took a big sip..then looked closer to see a dead fly in there. So I just threw out the whole thing.





Walking on Via Tragara towards my hotel (located at the very end of the street). It's a pretty nice and scenic walk, though pretty creepy at night when it's all dark. It's mainly hotels and villas along here. No shops or restaurants.




On our final night in Capri, we went for dinner at this restaurant called La Capannina. It seems a lot of celebrities come to eat here (judging by their wall of photos outside the restaurant, and autographs on the back of their menu) but to be honest I don't know why. Well the food is actually quite good, but so are a lot of other restaurants in Capri. There's also nothing special about the location since it's right in the middle of where all the other restaurants are. I just don't know why this one stands out so much for celebs. When we were eating, paparazzi even came in looking around to see if there were any celebrities there that night lol.


THIS was really good!!! I had burrata cheese only a few times before as it's not too popular here, but in Italy I ate it several times. This was definitely the best. The tomatoes were so fresh and juicy, and seasoned just right. This was actually my appetizer and it was much larger than I expected. The cheese was so filling I was afraid I wouldn't have room for my main course..which I did, and left incredibly stuffed.

This was my main course, a grilled salmon. I thought it was pretty dry. I don't know if that's just how they make it there (I ordered the same starter and main a different restaurant which I'll post about next time) and I also thought it was quite dry.



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