Hotel Lord Byron

My wife and I spent six nights at the Hotel Lord Byron for our honeymoon. I want to write as honest a review as possible, which means I will be discussing some negatives, but in the end it was still absolutely a five star experience. First the hotel itself and the rooms: The Hotel Lord Byron is in a very cool building that I believe used to be a private residence. When they converted it to a hotel, they very obviously sparred no expense in the design and furnishings. The rooms are truly filled with marble, polished hardwoods, nice upholstery, and beautiful wallpaper. Our room was a Panoramic Suite, and though the bathroom was not as big as some of the ones shown on the website, the room itself was awesome with a great view. However, here is where I will share one negative: upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that the rooms in the Hotel Lord Byron are well loved. The marble in the bathroom shows a little discoloration here and there. People have obviously bumped into the woodwork a couple of times. Specifically, our room clearly suffered water damage in the not too distant past. However, I think these things are all to be expected in a hotel that is not brand new. I imagine it would cost a fortune to replace damaged furnishings given the quality of all the materials. This being said, after a couple hours in the rooms, you stop seeing these issues and begin to really enjoy how fabulous everything is. The service: the Hotel Lord Byron has the best service I have ever had at a hotel. The staff are warm, friendly, attentive, accommodating, and always there if you need anything. Need a cab? They’ll call it for you and it will arrive in like 1 minute most times. Need a restaurant recommendation and reservation? Done. Need anything in your room like more wine glasses, fresh towels, or a bottle opener? It’s brought up in a couple of minutes. They come and tidy your room sometimes twice a day it seems. It was so refreshing after a long day of site seeing to come back to a tidy room. They even organized our things for us! They make you feel like royalty and I cannot commend the staff enough for how great they made us feel. Lastly, our grasp of the Italian language is not so great (something we want to work on before we come again), so it was a relief that just about everyone at the hotel speaks a bit of English, especially at the front desk. Location: the hotel is located in the Parioli neighborhood of Rome, north of the Villa Borghese and the city center. Are there more centrally located hotels relative to the major sites? Sure! But will those hotels also grant you a respite from the throngs of people and noisy nightlife after a long day of site seeing? Not as much as the Hotel Lord Byron! The neighborhood was clean, quiet, and seemingly very safe. I walked around at all hours of the day and night and had no issues. Additionally, it’s not so far away from everything that a cab ride to the major sites is too expensive. Generally everything was about a 8-15€ cab ride away. The hotel restaurant: I wrote a separate review of the new Relais Le Jardin restaurant on its Google page, but I will reiterate here that the experience at Relais Le Jardin (the hotel restaurant’s gourmet concept available on weekends I believe) was one of the finest dining experiences I’ve had in my life. Food and service were amazing. It’s not cheap, especially if you do the tasting menu, but when in Rome splurge a little and you will be rewarded. Overall, this was a five star experience at a five star hotel. When we come to Rome again, we will be staying at the Hotel Lord Byron.

It is not your normal Hyatt! It is worse! The Hotel is in a desert, nothing nearby. It takes 5 minutes to 20 minutes to get a cab so one is always early or late to events. Don’t think that you can go for a stroll anywhere. The English language is a challenge so the staff is challenged on customer service. They just don’t get it. I stayed because I am a Hyatt member yet you would never know, no water, etc. Breakfast is very attractive, visually, but is very poor in content with wet scrambled eggs and no non-pork options. Our room had a ceiling leak and we were moved twice after that one of which was unnecessary but their Front Desk person, Jon Marco, could not understand the inconvenience. Poor Service without the smile! All of these issues were raised throughout the stay with no accommodation. They are all about the money. This Hotel is the worst Hyatt that I have ever encountered.