Hotel Vilòn - Small Luxury Hotels of the World

Hotel Vilòn is a beautifully designed boutique hotel in an excellent central location, but our experience felt closer to a four-star stay than the five-star service advertised. Pros: The décor is elegant and tasteful, our junior suite comfortably accommodated our family, and the à la carte breakfast was very good. Simon at reception was friendly, the bartender was excellent, and the gentleman providing turndown service was exceptionally kind to our children and delivered genuine five-star hospitality. Cons: The hotel is difficult to access by car, and no one greeted us or assisted with our luggage upon arrival. Aside from a few standout employees, the service often felt distant rather than warm or personalized. One telling example occurred when we were leaving with our children and asked two front-desk employees for bottled water. Their response was simply that we had water in our room, rather than offering to get some for us—an unnecessarily dismissive interaction that felt completely out of place at a five-star hotel. Food prices were also excessive, even by luxury-hotel standards, and the breakfast display was limited. We lost further confidence in the concierge after being quoted €130 for Vatican tickets and €90 for St. Peter’s Basilica, payable in cash, when we found comparable tickets ourselves within minutes for €60 and €40. Most importantly, this is not an ideal hotel for families with young children. We frequently felt as though our children were inconveniencing others and received two noise complaints while simply trying to settle our jet-lagged family around 10 p.m. Hotel Vilòn may suit couples seeking a quiet, stylish and intimate atmosphere, but for families—and at this price point—the experience and consistency of service did not meet our expectations of a true five-star hotel.

Hotel Vilon is a lovely boutique hotel, and the actual hotel and rooms are very nice and indicative of a 5 star hotel. The location is great as it’s central to everything but the hotel itself is down a dark, sketchy back alley that is a bit hard to find. It’s not some charming side street, while completely safe you feel a bit nervous coming down the alley later at night. But it is off all the hustle and bustle on the more busy areas. The real reason I give it a lower rating is for a true 5 star hotel that charges as such (even if not top top pricing), the hotel provides more 4 star service, which is fine but not competitive with true luxury hotels. This is disappointing as they sell themselves on high end service given it’s a small boutique hotel with 5 star pricing. In particular, they are very slow to respond to pre arrival requests, if they respond at all. Often we had to follow up and then they would respond. Couple other examples: Again, the hotel is on a very small one way alley and we had an early tour we almost missed because there was a car waiting on other hotel guests blocking our car from getting by. It was sitting there for almost 15mins waiting for other guests to depart. So we were literally sitting blocked waiting in our car. When I asked the hotel desk person if they can please help or else we risk missing our early morning tour, he said they are waiting on other guests and will leave when ready. That’s absurd, we literally were blocked from leaving as it’s a small one way alley that prevents more than one car at a time. I get waiting a couple minutes, no problem, but almost 15 minutes because other guests were not ready is not right. And when I nicely asked to help, to basically tell me sorry you will wait is completely unacceptable. They must inform the other car to circle back when their guests are ready, esp since this hotel is again located on a very small one way back alley that allows room for 1 car at a time to pass. Also, at departure, I forgot some medicine in the fridge. That’s totally my fault, and the front desk was nice enough to call to inform me I left it in the room. But that’s really where it ends, I was at the train station 10 minutes away and any true 5 star hotel would have figured out a way to get it to me and/or use their house car to meet me and drop off. This hotel has none of that. I scrambled to find a car to pick it up but could not make it before our train left. Again, this is on me, not the hotel and they did call which was very nice, but a true high end 5 star hotel would have found a way to drop off to me ten mins away. Hotel Vilon is a low end 5 star or more like a higher end 4 star so just be aware it’s a big level down from a true 5 star luxury hotel.

Wow! What a fantastic stay at Hotel Vilon. This was the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at both in terms of the physicial space and how attentive (but not intrusive) the service was. We enjoyed the quietness of the location despite it being close to everything. It was an oasis of calm after our daily touring. Our room had recenlty been renovated and faced over the beautiful gardens and was lovely! The interior of the hotel is gorgeous and peaceful. Breakfast was very nice and we appreciated the help from those at the front desk.

Had a great stay. Boutique hotel with excellent, friendly staff. Great service, very helpful. Attention to detail. Spacious clean room. Great location within walking distance of many sites. Would definitely return

The Vilon provided a mixed experience for us. The location is great; it's quietly placed on an off street in the Campo Marzio. It's also lovely and small, which gives it a boutique feeling. That said, we will not be staying there again due to several quite surprising events. First off, as we arrived in a taxi tired from our flight, there was no one to take our luggage. We had to lug it all up ourselves to the entrance, which is up some steps and is always locked. One must press a button that alerts the staff that you're there. I'm perfectly capable of bringing my own bags in, but I've never had to do that in a supposedly 5-star hotel. Worse, our departure had all the graciousness of paying for an item in a convenience store. No one at the sit-down reception desk bothered to smile, to ask if our stay was OK, or to make any attempt to be personal. They just handed us the bill and said goodbye. That's fine at a roadside motel but is utterly unacceptable here. However, the rooms are nice, and the staff is great if you bother to get to know them.

My sister and I recently stayed and had an amazing time. The hotel staff is super friendly and helpful. The restaurant is fantastic! We had a meal that was nothing short of sublime. If I could give 10 stars I would. I highly recommend it. The location is perfect!