Mr & Mrs Smith

Crossing Condotti was so lovely, 5 special rooms with Marco in charge, highly recommend. Of course it was in the middle of shopping central and all surrounding cafes and restaurants were fabulously Italian. Had a great seafood meal at Mare Via Ripetta. For people-watching, you cannot go past Rosati Piazza Roppopalo.

Due to the central location of Crossing Condotti there are a number of excellent places to eat, all within walking distance. Marco, the very helpful Assistant Manager recommended 'Il Grano' near the Pantheon. The food in this restaurant was fantastic and you will need to book.

If you are after a more traditonal trattoria, literally turn left out of the apartments and then first right and on your left is an excellent tratorria - the name escapes me.

Likewise if you turn left out of the apartment and then first right, just on your left is the D Bar. Here you can eat breakfast like the Italians; rushing a quick coffee and croissant. In the evening they have a simple and tasty menu. We stopped for an early evening drink and were presented with a feast of free tapas with our meal. Compare this excellent value to eating near Piazzia Navarone, which is hugely expensive simply for a small glass of wine and is best avoided for eating and drinking unless you have money to waste.

Also make sure you prebook any tickets for the Vatican Museum - this can be done online on the day - thanks Marco - and saves a horrendous queue. Simply carrying on walking past the queue to the prebooked ticket entrance at teh front.

Likewise the triple ticket for the Collosuem, Forum and Pallantine Hill can be prebooked online and is good value.

Enoteca Antica - Great wine bar to have antipasti sitting at the bar for a light lunch, just around the corner from Crossing Condotti in Via della Croce. Good to rest up after shopping and NOT touristy!

Now this is quite possibly the best kept secret in Rome!! When your taxi takes you up the main shopping street, past Gucci, right by La Perla, the last thing you expect is for it to stop and drop you literally there. We stayed in the Spagna room and it was just what we needed. The freedom and relaxing nature of a private apartment, but the convenience of a hotel when you come back and the room has been cleaned and tidied. There is a great cafe/restaurant just around the corner called Gina's which is perfect for lunch and then plenty of coffee shops for your morning espresso & croissant. We shall definitely come back here every time we visit Rome and will recommend it to all our friends.

Crossing Condotti is absolutely stunning, just off one of the main shopping streets, so to step off the street into this perfectly silent, cool and uber stylish apartment building was superb. Gasparov is the man in charge who will meet and greet you and show you how the place works. He has such a welcoming manner – and a list of recommendations tailored to the length of your stay. We were only there for one night but his recommendation for a trattoria off the beaten track in the Jewish quarter was genius.

The place was called Roscioli located on via dei Giubbonari – it's essentially an old deli where you can choose to pop in for some antipasti, cheese and of course wine, or you can get yourself a table at the back and enjoy the fantastic food being served. Booking is essential as it filled up very quickly. Dinner for two came in at €100 for three courses (no wine though). Another place we happened upon for lunch was called Hostaria al 31 on via delle Carrozze – a blink and you will miss it type of restaurant. Small, unassuming but great service and excellent food. Three courses came in at €50 (no alchohol). Gasparov completely made our stay – a really helpful and interesting guy whose advise was totally spot on. We had an amazing stay in Rome and he can take some credit for that.

As there is no breakfast included at Crossing Condotti and you may wish to have something more than just a pastry and coffee for breakfast we discovered a branch of Le Pain Quotidien in Via Tomicelli which was about 8 minutes walk from Crossing Condotti where one can get quite a substantial breakfast. Please note that it is called La Baguette.

Dine like kings and head to "Macaronni" for a plate of pasta with black truffle sauce.
The best ticket in town is the Roma Pass. Buy them online or at the airport and it covers inner city metro/bus for 3 days AND free entry to must see places such as The Collusseum/Palantine and Forums. The biggest plus - no queuing with everyone else.
Just what you need in a busy city to make the most of your time.

Putting Crossing Condotti's amazing location to one side (could you be any nearer to so much history...and shopping), Marco took time to make sure we knew where we were, where to go and when to go there (to avoid queues that would turn even an Englishman cold). One of his best recommendations was for dinner on the Saturday night at a restaurant called Grano on Piazza Rondadini (+39 06 6819 2096). It was just far enough off the tourist trail to ensure an authentic Roman dining experience, but close enough through a number of alleys and twists and turns to bring you to the Pantheon and from then onto the Trevi Fountain for a well-deserved gelato.

Had a lovely stay at Crossing Condotti, with the service of Marco and the team. Lovely location, great selection of bars, restaurants and shops all within a stone's throw, as well as the Spanish Steps, of course. I would definitely recommend anyone planning a trip to Rome to consider staying at Crossing Condotti. And to listen to Marco's suggestions of places to go and things to see – especially Gina's restaurant just up the hill (www.ginaroma.com)!

Corssing Condotti is an oasis of calm in the busy metropolis of Rome. Rooms are elegant and beautifully decorated, and the location, next to the Spanish Steps, is the best ever. It's like having your own apartment in the centre of Rome. Loads of excellent restaurants are very close by – we dined at Shaki and Via Carducci La Sorella, and had superb meals – just make sure you have sufficient credit limit on your cards. The concierge at Crossing Condotti was lovely and arranged dinner reservations for us. One suggestion would be to let Crossing Condotti arrange a limo from the airport as we would never have found the hotel without it.

Le Sorelle – recommended and booked by Marco at Crossing Condotti (booking essential). Great Mediterranean cuisine (the best pasta I have ever had, such tender lamb and great deserts), fantastic atmosphere, off the tourist trail – the best evening we had in Rome.

GiNa Café – again recommended by Marco. A funky cafe just around the corner from the Spanish steps. Great home made food, delicous pasta specials, good wine, great deserts - a perfect long lunch.

This place has simply the warmest welcome you can hope for. I find that it normally takes me a day to settle into a holiday, I have to walk around the city, study the map, have a coffee or a beer in a local bar, but here all it took was the 15-minute chat with Marco. Discovering it was our first trip to Rome, Marco explained in detail where to go, where to eat and how to avoid the largest queues. Incidentally, Feburary is a great time to go to Rome, it was a little cold but it was sunny and a winter coat did the rest. I was reliably informed it can take over an hour to get into St Peter's Basilica in the middle of summer, it took us less than 10 minutes.

The rooms at Crossing Condotti are very stylish and elegant and really make you feel like you are staying in a friend's cool apartment. It is also so nice to wander into the kichenette after a day of sightseeing, or after a great meal, and use the Nespresso machine or grab a bottle of water from the fridge. We found we didn't miss a restaurant of breakfast service while we stayed here. There is a fantastic place called Dol Bar literally around the corner that serves the typical Roman combination of great coffee, pasteries and toasted sandwiches. We also ate very well on every evening but I don't feel the need to list them because they where all suggested and booked by Marco. If you are staying here then you'll be eating where we ate (remember to ask for a typical, rustic, Roman restaurant, you won't be disapointed).

If the formality of many hotels leaves you cold and you fancy a different kind of place to stay then this has my sincere recomendation (just get them to show you how all the keys work to get you back in. There's a knack to the main door).