St. Regis Grand Hotel - Rome, Italy     

Just stayed 5 nights at this Grand hotel and we absolutely loved it. When we first arrived, they upgraded us to a deluxe room, gave us complimentary breakfast and snacks at their bar and had the room ready for us in a jiffy (we came in at 10am). Location - its not smack in the middle of the tourist attractions but all major destinations (Spanish steps, Pantheon, Colosseum) are about a 20 minute walk or about 6 Euros by taxi. So quite convenient and it feels good to get away from the tourist throngs at the end of the day. Dont trust the distance estimates on the hotel website especially if you have a kid on a stroller. Rome was not built in a day but in the days of yore and it shows. The kid rattled and we hrrumphed and took taxis. There is a taxi stand right outside so it was easy. And its very very safe. Room - Even though we prefer minimalist balinese decor and not the opulent 19th century European style, the room was quite nicely done up. The 34 inch flat panel TV compensated. And they had a DVD player - useful for the kid. But the icing on the cake was an amazing bathroom - trust me in Europe, bathrooms are an afterthought. It had a separate walk-in shower so no half shower doors separaing the bathtub and and bathroom from imminent flooding. Food - did not eat at their restaurant; Their bar is great to sit but the food is average. Service was excellent. Breakfast and room service is expensive but there are multiple cafes just outside and you can say cappuccino to go without attracting puzzlement as in Paris. Finding fresh milk for the kid was hard - room service charges 7 euros which was way too steep. The first day when we asked for milk they sent it up for free; the rest of the days we got charged. So we trudged to the nearest supermarket which is about 5 blocks away. They should have a "infants drink milk free" program and parents would arrive in droves. Concierge and service - Mario and Omar were amazing; they have great maps, they made reservations for all the places so we managed to skip queues, and gave us excellent restaurant recommendations. However, the restaurants we went to were sometimes stuffy and not kid-friendly. (Aside: We did find perhaps the most kid friendly restaurant in all of Rome - called Life on Via della Vite near Spanish steps. The servers were the most kind and pleasant that we have encountered in all of Italy - they entertained our kid while we had a great dinner.) The hotel arranged a pricey private tour of the Vatican (at 230 Euros) but it was worth every cent. Our guide Fabio Luciani was very good (www.arslongatour.com) - pleasant, knowledgeable and well versed in European history. We cannot recommend him more strongly. Finally, service standards at the hotel was amazing - only the Aman resorts and some select 4 seasons are comparable. Overall, the best European hotel we have experienced - unfair of course, to compare it to Asian hospitality and service but they can give it a run for our money.