Review: The Spring House Hotel Rome Vatican, Tapestry Collection by Hilton

I was pretty excited to book this hotel as I have never stayed at a Tapestry Collection property by Hilton. From my understanding, Tapestry hotels represent their neighborhood vibrantly, and I felt like that was very much the case. Located near the north walls of the Vatican, The Spring House Hotel Rome Vatican was a great base of operations for me during my trip to Rome attending Pope Francis’ wake and funeral. Check out the review, below!

Hotel Information

Dates Stayed:	April 24, 2025 to April 27, 2025
Location:	Via Mocenigo, 7, 00192 Roma RM, Italy
Room Number / Room Type	324 / 1 King Superior
Method / Cost	Points+Money / 175,000 Honors points + $416.27
Loyalty Status	Honors Diamond

Summary

• Fantastic location with close proximity to the Vatican
• Superior Rooms have decent space
• Great hotel amenities despite being a small hotel

Booking The Spring House Hotel Rome Vatican

Like my flight that got me to Rome, I booked this hotel stay back in November 2024 in preparation for attending the canonization Mass. 

Last time I went to Rome was back in 2017 on a family vacation in Italy with my parents and brother. When we stayed in Rome, I had booked the Hilton Garden Inn Rome Claridge, which was the only non-premium Hilton brand in the city of Rome at the time. Great hotel and option, but the problem was that it wasn’t close to the main attractions of Rome. You had to take the tram or subways to visit them.Certainly travel time was a consideration when carrying out our itinerary back then.

But apparently there are now a few more options–The Spring House Hotel being one of them!

The Spring House Hotel is located pretty close to the tour entrance of the Vatican Museums and knowing that I’d be hanging around the Vatican a lot, booking this hotel made sense given the other options.

I booked this stay with points+money, which is an option when booking with direct with Hilton. I didn’t want to burn all my miles, and I didn’t want to pay a lot of money either so mixing the two was good. To book this stay, I used the app since the app makes it pretty easy to search and select rates. Typically, I like booking the Honors rate as that gives me a slight discount and typically a generous cancellation policy.

Lobby and Check In at The Spring House Hotel Rome Vatican

The lobby for The Spring House is L-shaped. When you walk through the sliding doors, you’re in the long leg of the L with various seating areas and access to the different elevators and restaurant. The short leg of the L has more seating as well as the front desks.

The seating areas are well appointed and comfortable, and I frequently saw people hanging around in the evenings.

Because I landed in Rome at about 8AM, I had the full day ahead of me. I didn’t want to lug my backpack around while exploring so I headed directly to the hotel to see about them holding my backpack during the day. I got to the hotel at about 9AM, and they obliged, but they also went ahead and let me check in! Obviously, a room wasn’t ready for me yet. 

After exploring the Vatican for several hours and grabbing lunch, I returned back to the hotel at like 1:30PM. I sat in the lobby for an hour before I went back to talk to front desk to see if I had a room ready. And I did! They gave me my key, and informed me that I had been upgraded to a Superior room (more space), and said my backpack would be delivered to my room.

I was a little bit confused when I didn’t receive my two free water bottles as a Diamond member, but they assured me that there would be two water bottles in the fridge in the room.

When I went into my room, I actually saw my backpack already in there. Nice!

Room at The Spring House Hotel Rome Vatican

My room for The Spring House Hotel was 324, which was a King Superior Room. As I mentioned earlier, I was upgraded upon check in. Room 324 is in “tower 3” and on the second floor as Italy considers ground floor as Floor 0.

For the layout of the room, when I first walked in the closet was on the left and a full-sized mirror was on the right. A partition was straight ahead separating the main part of the room from the foyer-like area.

This main space had the bed with two side tables, a desk and chair, and a large window on the exterior wall. The window has a view of the adjacent building and the outdoor “garden” area on the first floor.

Room Amenities

The room has a key card slot that requires a hotel key inserted to keep the room power on. Interestingly, the room power turns on briefly when the door opens.

Above the power slot is a small panel that seems to control various aspects of the room as well as provide status. I didn’t really mess with this.

Starting with the closet, it features a few things. I noticed that it didn’t have doors. It has a handful of hangars both for tops and the hangars with clips for pants. There were also two bathrobes on an upper shelf packed in with slippers. The lock box was also located on a shelf in the closet. Also within the closet was a steamer, luggage rack, and laundry services bag.

The desk has a few amenities as well. Apart from the desk lamp, the desk also had a Nespresso Pop Vertuo machine. Along with the Nespresso machine was a tray with electric kettle and espresso cups (both single and double size). The single drawer in the desk contained the Nespresso pods, tea bags, and instant coffee. Lastly, the cabinet in the desk contains the mini-fridge. And inside the mini-fridge were two bottles of water. I did go to a local grocery store to buy more water bottles knowing that the two provided water bottles wouldn’t be enough for me for the duration of my stay.

For the bed, it was king size and had two side tables on either side. One of the side tables had the room phone. The bed came with four pillows and a duvet cover.

I estimate the TV was 60”. It defaulted to static splash screen with QR codes for the hotel service directory, and bar and restaurant menu. The TV is also framed with shelving.

All power outlets are standard European two-prong. You’ll need an adapter for your US-style power plugs.

Decor

The aesthetic in the room was kind of earthy. The door was wood as were the baseboards and the colors were earthly browns and greens. The wall behind the bed was a dark grey beige accent wall. Also in the room was a large tree painting.

The floor was tiled, but the bed was on a rug.

Bed Comfort

The bed was firm and clean. It didn’t sit too low nor too high. It had good enough space around it but it did feel tight to the corner and around near the window.

The pillows were medium firm and not squishy, which I like and appreciate.

Room Cleanliness, Wear & Tear

I found the room to be pretty clean throughout. No weird stains in the bed or on other furniture. I didn’t find anything on the chair or desk either.

As far as wear and tear goes, I found that there were light indications of such on things. But nothing suggested to me that it needed major repair or attention or outright negligence.

Room Noises

I did notice that you can hear people talking at street level as well as the garden area if there are people there. Thankfully, you can’t hear neighbors talking. But at the same time, I hardly ever ran into any of my room neighbors as I think we had vastly different schedules for being at the hotel.

WiFi 

Connecting to the WiFi was fairly easy as it was just a matter of connecting to the network and inputting my last name and room number on the splash screen that appeared. A few prompts and then I was connected. This is pretty typical for Hilton properties, and it was nice to see it working here.

I tested the WiFi speeds, and it yielded the following:

• 29.6 Mbps download
• 29.6 Mbps upload
• 6ms ping

Honestly, pretty good speeds for hotel WiFi. More then adequate to get work done or stream videos.

What I thought of the room overall

I liked that it was pretty efficient for a small amount of space. Things looked nice but had a purposeful and aesthetic quality to them. To be honest, I thought these accommodations were more than adequate for a 3-day stay.

If I had one complaint, it was the fact that the Nespresso pods provided weren’t the correct ones for the coffee cups provided in the room. I own a Nespresso Vertuo machine myself at home, and the size of the pop determines the volume of coffee it’ll serve. The pods provided in the room were for 7.77 oz of coffe, but the cups only held like 3-4 ounces. So when I brewed coffee for the first time, I had to utilize both of the bigger cups.

Since I don’t frequently get hotel rooms that require a keycard kept in a slot in the wall for power, it took me a while to keep remembering to do that. I should have requested a second key.

Bathroom

The bathroom was kinda small but efficient in its features. Within it, there’s a standard Italian hotel toilet (looks more U shaped than typical American flat oval) with flush buttons on the wall. Right next to the toilet is the standard Italian bidet with bidet towels on the towel rack just above it.

There was also a sink and mirror with hand towels, face towels and amenities. 

The shower featured an overhead and handheld. It had no door. Weirdly it had an RGB light above it that changed colors every few seconds. And lastly it had an unlabeled alarm string. I curiously pulled it thinking it was a clothesline, but I later noticed it activated a red light on the room info panel. WHOOPS! lol.

Bathroom Amenities

The amenities provided in the bathroom are fairly standard. These included tissues, reusable cups, shower caps, extra toilet paper, hair dryer, and sanitary bags. Non-typical amenities provided were a vanity kit and shoe polish wipes. Maybe those are typical in Europe?

For soaps and things, they are all Culti products featuring hand wash, body lotion, conditioner, shampoo, and shower gel.

Bathroom Cleanliness and Wear & Tear

I thought the bathroom was pretty clean, even in the corners. I didn’t see any noticeable wear and tear on anything.

What I thought of the bathroom overall

Overall, I liked the aesthetics of the bathroom, but I thought it was a little cramped. 

The bathroom door swings to the inside so it doesn’t leave much room when trying to close it from the inside. But I supposed it could have acted as the shower door if left open! 

The shower having no door was dumb to me since spray and splash easily got into the main part of the bathroom. Luckily there was a bath mat provided. 

The RGB light did give a mood, but I still found it a little weird! Lol

I never ventured to use the Italian bidet…

And I mentioned above that I pulled the alarm string in the shower mistakenly. I did talk to the front desk to let them know it was an accident, and they said not to worry about it.

Hotel Overall

I know space is a premium in Rome so this hotel tries to pack in a lot in a smaller footprint than what I’m used to in the USA. I felt like the lobby could be cramped especially when people were hanging around. The layout provided some cool places to hang out in, but I mostly out and about in Rome to be able to enjoy it. Probably the least intuitive thing are the different towers for the rooms as each “tower” has its own elevator and stairs.

Staff Service

The front desk staff were very friendly and accommodating every time I interacted with them. I know they deal with a lot of tourists since the hotel is a few blocks away from the Vatican Museums. Perhaps my only gripe with the staff is that the bar and restaurant attendants/servers weren’t as attentive and sometimes required flagging down.

Occupancy

I feel like I saw a wide variety of people as I return and left the hotel. Though I wasn’t sure if that suggested the hotel being full. Breakfast was never crowded, but certainly approaching full both times I went.

Amenities at The Spring House Hotel Rome Vatican

Restaurant

The Spring House Hotel has one hotel bar and restaurant located on the ground floor to the left of the entrance. The bar is open in the evenings and the restaurant serves breakfast in the mornings.

Supposedly you can order stuff here and have it delivered to the second floor patio (see below). 

For breakfast, the hours are 7AM to 11AM. It is buffet style.

Hot plates provided had eggs, bacon, pancakes, rice, spinach, and beans (weird combo). And cold foods had stuff like yogurt, fruit, cold cuts, cheese, salad, and more. Breads and a toaster were also available. The buffet also included a separate counter with espresso machines, juices, and pastries.

I thought the breakfast had a good selection, and the food was decently tasty. European hotel breakfasts’ pastries are so much better than in the US.

I also ate actual dinner once at the restaurant. The menu isn’t too extensive and was largely Italian dishes. When you sit down, you’re given a bag of breads.

This club sandwich was pretty good, and the chips were crispy. 

For a late lunch one of the days I was in Rome, I had this carbonara pasta.

I had this chocolate cake as a sweet finish. It was decadent and rich.

I got into aperol spritzes while in Rome and tried them here. Refreshing with good flavor.

And then my last evening at The Spring House, I had a negroni from the bar.

Overall, I’m glad there was a restaurant in the hotel even though many restaurants and other food establishments are located nearby. What I did eat, I liked.

Gym

The hotel gym is located in the basement level. For access, you need to go down the stairs in the middle of the lobby and use your hotel keycard to get in. 

The hours for the gym are 24/7.

For equipment and amenities, the gym offers exercise balls, dumbbells up to 16kg, a few kettle bells, two treadmills, and one bike. There was also a rack for workout towels, a water dispenser, and uniquely there was also a wardrobe room for changing, restroom, and a sauna. I think the sauna requires asking the front desk to use.

It isn’t too spacious so I feel like 2-3 people in here would make it feel crowded already.

Wellness Area

On the second floor is a patio area that has outdoor seating and a wellness area. There are two jacuzzi hot tubs, a mood shower, and a steam room. Apparently these have hours and require permission from the front desk to use the mood shower and steam room.

I thought this was a pretty unique offering for a hotel. However, I never saw anyone use any of it. I suppose because in the mornings and evenings it was still cold outside, and during the day most people are trying to sightsee Rome.

Laundry

Laundry bags and forms provided in the room in the closet. 

No self-laundry facilities at this hotel, but there are local laundromats within walking distance if needed.

Parking

I noticed on my last day there is a parking garage for the hotel, but I don’t know how much it costs to park there. 

It isn’t difficult to use mass transportation to get to the heart of Rome or Vatican City so the need to rent a car is pretty low, and hence the need to use the available parking garage.

Lessons Learned

I stayed at this hotel for a few days and had a few lessons learned.

Probably the biggest lesson I learned was that the string in the shower is for an emergency if you’re in the shower. I just wish it was labeled for that purpose.

Secondly, I probably should have requested a second keycard so I could leave one in the wall slot to keep the room powered. While it didn’t get hot in the room, it did take a minute for the room to cool down once the A/C power came back.

Lastly, I knew that the Nespresso pods would yield more coffee than the cups could provide given that I have a machine at home. But I nearly had a coffee mess on the desk for not paying attention briefly while the machine was brewing. 

Bottom Line

The Spring House Hotel Rome Vatican is a great boutique hotel just steps away from the Vatican Museums and easy access to the Porto Angelica to St. Peter’s Basilica. Accommodations are on point and amenities provided allow for a comfortable and convenient stay for a Roman and Vatican adventure.

While I had a few struggles with Nespresso pods, pulling alarms, and being slightly ignored by wait staff, these didn’t put a damper on my stay.

I definitely recommend The Spring House for those looking for comfortable convenience when visiting the Vatican as a tourist and/or pilgrim.

Would you stay here? What’s your favorite part about The Spring House Hotel Rome Vatican? Lemme know down in the comments!