Our first stop will be the hotel where we stayed, the Hotel Forum seen at the center of this photo. It is located at Via Tor de' Conti, 25-30. I was standing on Via Dei Fori Imperiali when I took this photo.
The easiest way to get to the hotel is to access it from Via Cavour, a major street one block south of the hotel. Here is my wife walking on Via Tor de' Conti, from Via Cavour towards the hotel. This is the way we usually went to and from the hotel.
Another shot of the hotel from a slightly different angle. The hotel overlooked the Roman Forum, thus the name.
When we stepped out the front door of the hotel and looked straight across Via Tor de' Conti, this is the view towards the Forum. Note the white patio cover - it was temporary and was there for an upcoming military parade on June 3.
The other path for approaching the hotel was from the other direction, starting at Via 4 Novembre and walking along Salita del Grillo which turns into Via Tor de' Conti. Roads in Rome often change names every few blocks.
This is a particularly beautiful way to approach the hotel, though it is longer and has an uphill/downhill portion.
Other hotels can be found along this approach to the hotel.
On the right are the ruins from prior city eras, I haven't looked up what this building was.
Getting closer! Almost to the hotel...
The Hotel Forum also has a parking garage, though we would not recommend getting a car in Rome. There is no need for it - everything within the Roman walls is walkable. The longest walk we had was from the hotel to the Vatican which took a little over an hour.
Here is what our hotel looked like at night. Sorry, the camera struggled with the darkness so the shot is a little fuzzy.
The hotel also has a rooftop restaurant which overlooks the Roman Forum. Ready to go into the hotel and see our room?
Let's take a look at our room! We were given room 306 which had a fine view (see next post). This is what the room looks like from the doorway. On our arrival, there were decorative bedspreads on the beds, so this photo was obviously not taken on the day we arrived but further into our trip.
As we've found often in Italy, two twin beds is quite a common arrangement. This hotel was originally a convent, built in the 17th century, for the church located next door.
A picture of Rome hangs above the beds.
There was really not a good place to store suitcases, so I stored mine in front of the nightstand.
This shows the layout of the hotel, and where our room was located.
The desk in the room. We should have taken our belongings off before taking the photo (yellow bag, sunglasses, book on upper left), oh well.
The tiny TV with about 10 stations available. From the fuzzy picture, I'm assuming they are received via antenna.
This is the light switch by the door for the overhead light. The bulbs appeared to be either 40 or 60 watt equivalents.
We only figured out one of these three buttons at the top of the door. the one in the middle is the breaker reset (we tripped it once!).
The light switch for the bathroom is located just outside the bathroom. On the left is an electrical outlet - this is where we plugged in our iron.
Here is the control for the air conditioner. We were grateful an air conditioner was available as the first few days in Rome were very humid! That coincided with the days when it sprinkled for a few minutes. On the days with no rain, it felt much less humid outside. Note there is no temperature control - only on/off and fan speed. The noises the air conditioner emanated were like nothing we'd heard before. It actually sounded like parts were going to come flying out of the ceiling at times. Listen to the video at the end of this post.
The ceiling light, with what I would estimate to be 40 to 60 watt bulbs.
This is where the air conditioning unit was obviously located, judging from the sound. Listen to the video below.
The parquet floors.
Another angle. While there looks to be dirt in the corners, it really did not look that bad in person. It is really decades of wear, not necessarily surface dirt. There are new hotels you can stay in if you want mint condition. But if you want true Italian flavor and 17th century ambiance, well it's not gonna look brand new.
And there is the bathroom door. Shall we enter?
The sink, toilet, and typical Italian tile.
A bidet was located directly across from the toilet.
It was great to find a hair dryer. Only drawback was that the button had to be held in to keep it running. That's by design, but we're not sure why.
A shelf to the left of the sink.
Knobs for flushing the toilet.
The shower stall.
Shower floor.
Shelf in the shower.
Back of bathroom door.
Now let's look outside the room. This is the hallway outside our door.
The elevator was tiny and we could use the exercise anyway, so we typically took the stairs. Remember that the ground floor in European buildings is zero ("0"), so 306 is actually on the fourth floor.
Going down another flight on a different day.
The stairs themselves.
A picture in the hallway.
A quick look around the room in video:
A sample of what the air conditioner sounded like. Note that the low speed did get quieter after it ran for awhile. We used it as white noise to drown out Via dei Forum Imperiali at night. The hotel staff had to know what this unit sounded like because we left it running when we left for the day a few times and they had shut it off by the time we returned.
Ever wonder what is on Italian TV? Here is a video showing the channels that were available:
So was the Hotel Forum accurately represented on the Hotel Forum website? You be the judge!
So what did the view from our room look like? Funny you should ask, because we just happen to have some photos! Standing in the middle of the room looking out, this is what we saw. I'll give details about that building further down in this post.
Walk a little to the left edge of the room, though, and we could see bits and pieces of the Roman Forum. It felt very strange being that close to the center of Roman civilization, where all the famous leaders of that era once walked.
Caesar, Augustus, Constantine, Caligula.
Looking down Via Tor de' Conti towards Via Cavour.
Even fire trucks came down our tiny street at rush hour.
A typical rush hour scene.
Notice the green guard shack on the island? That was used by the police during rush hour. They would stand at most corners of the city, blowing their whistle and waiving their arms. Even if the intersection had traffic signals.
A close up of the ruins on the edge of the hotel.
There was a complimentary continental breakfast at the rooftop restaurant each morning. Consisting of breads, muffins, and fruit, we ate there a couple of times. Here is the view from there - Palantine Hill...
...the Roman Forum....
...more of the Roman Forum...
...the backside of the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II...
...the Tower of Conti with the Basilica of Constantine peeking through...
...and if we peeked down a side street, we could even get a glimpse of the Colosseum.
Now let's people-watch for a minute! Look at the various groups of folks who passed our window while we were in Rome...and I'll tell you more about the hotel.
One of the best things about the hotel was the staff - they were first rate, very courteous and would go out of their way to help. I give them high marks.
Another great thing about the hotel was the location. Very easy access to many of the major sites.
A third great thing about the hotel was the views. Where else can you see the Roman Forum, Palantine Hill, and sometimes the Colosseum from your hotel?
...and of course, a flock of nuns...
Now about the Tower of Conti. We had no idea what this building was while we were in Rome, but I have researched it now that we are home.
This tower was built in 1238 and I've read various accounts, some saying it was built by Pope Innocent II and some saying it was built by the Conti family. In any case, it was originally 60 meters high - roughly twice it's current height - and was coated in travertine.
This coating was removed in the sixteenth century and used to construct Porta Pia.
Several earthquakes affected the building, and one in 1348 made the tower uninhabitable. It was abandoned until 1620 when it was rebuilt.
Other earthquakes in 1630 and 1644 further damaged the building.
Another look at the Roman Forum from our window.
And now, a few videos of the view.
The first two are typical scenes out the window:
Here, I show a close-up of the Roman Forum, the Tower of Conti, we hear the horns of motorists upset with each other, and we hear the construction of the grandstands for the July 3 military parade:
Lastly, one morning the Italian military decided to test the loudspeakers in preparation for the parade. Here is what we heard for a few hours:
