The Crypt Behind the Hotel Door

"Where a regular hotel might have a closet to store your luggage, this one has a crypt built before Christ—literally a dark, windowless cryptoporticus with winding caverns and an ancient well just behind a door at reception, open 24 hours a day. My first impression was more like a tiny office than one of the world’s most outstanding hotels: a bright, fluorescent lobby with a little desk and a small couch; as one staff member scribbled down my passport number, another handed me a cup of tiramisu and swung open a door to the first century. I’d sit in a contemporary armchair among a marble bust and a pink orchid, reading the laminated page explaining that the passageway, discovered and excavated in 1887, still hasn’t had a full investigation into its significance. Steps from the Roman Forum and a short walk to nearly every major attraction, I kept returning to the crypt to sit, stare, and center myself in the one private ancient space I had entirely to myself—though too late at night I could only last a few minutes before jogging up to my room. Decorated in a classic style with a canopy bed and shuttered windows, my room felt perennial, but the public spaces shine: the terrace with a mesmerizing city view and a spiral staircase to an even smaller platform with an even more satisfying view. The upstairs lounge just inside from the terrace serves a great complimentary breakfast and daily aperitifs from five to eight, and the concierge will make you a reservation anywhere you like. Guests tend to come either for the unbeatable location or because they’ve heard about the crypt (and they want to be near the major attractions of Rome). Families are well served too, with one- to three-bedroom apartments in adjacent buildings that include the same full service as the standard rooms. Iconic spaces in a charmed location—this is the perfect base for a trip to Rome." - Mitchell Friedman