Of the thirteen “religious” hotels listed on www.ospitalitareligiosa.it the closest to St. Peter’s Square is the Hotel Adriatico at Via Vitelleschi 25. If you want to be even closer, you should book at one of these three “religious places to stay” owned by religious orders, but not reviewed on www.ospitalitareligiosa.it. All 4-star, they might be better classified as guesthouses because they don’t have inhouse restaurants and their profits go to their order’s Missions worldwide.
RESIDENZA SAN PAOLO VI
The closest to St. Peter’s is the Residenza San Paolo VI(www.residenzapaolovi.com) at Via Paolo V1 29, the street alongside the left branch of Bernini’s colonnade as you face the Basilica. Since 1886 the building has belonged and still houses the Augustinian Order, which Pope Innocent IV (1243-54) recognized on December 16, 1243. Martin Luther was an Augustinian friar from 1505 until his excommunication in 1520.
Located on the third floor, the Residenza offers 35 non-smoking rooms, all with modern conveniences like plasma TVs, minibars, telephones, free Wi-Fi, private bathrooms with shower stalls, hairdryers, air conditioning/heating, and safes for valuables. Twenty-five of the rooms are standard and small because once monks’ cells; two are deluxe doubles, two Junior Suites, and six are deluxe Superior rooms named for famous Italian Renaissance artists. These more spacious and luxurious rooms overlook Bernini’s Colonnade.
An American buffet breakfast is served every morning from 7:30 to 10:30 in the Bernini Room, which is also available for catered receptions, business lunches and private parties with up to 45 guests. A bar service with light snacks is also available from 4 PM to midnight in the Bernini Room or on the terrace just outside which overlooks St. Peter’s Basilica and the Apostolic Palace.
PALAZZO CARDINAL CESI
Unlike the Residenza, Palazzo Cardinal Cesi (www.palazzocesi.it) requires a minimum stay of four nights. Its grandiose palazzo was built c. 1500 by Cardinal Francesco Armellini (1470-1528), a counselor to Pope Leo X Medici. In 1565 Cardinal Pierdonato Cesi (1521-1586) and his brother Angelo, the bishop of Todi, bought the Palazzo. Over 300 years later, Father Francis Mary of the Cross Jordan (1848-1918), founder a few years before of the rapidly growing missionary order, the Society of the Divine Savior, commonly called the Salvadorians, bought the Palazzo and its Generalate is still headquartered there.
The Palazzo’s entrance opens directly onto the street Via della Conciliazione at No. 51, but to reach the lobby guests must pass through a peaceful courtyard, once a monastic cloister, now a refreshment area. Off to the right is the-two floor “Garden Suite” with a living room on the ground floor and bed and bath up a charming spiral staircase. Along the courtyard’s left side is a series of rooms available for conferences and private events. Its other 29 rooms offer the same services and amenities as the Residenza, but ask to see the magnificently frescoed library with its red-and-gold coffered ceiling thereby stepping into a bygone age.
IL CANTICO
“Il Cantico” (www.ilcantico.it) is located on the quiet residential side street Via del Cottolegno at no. 50, five city blocks from St. Peter’s Square—-a ten-minute walk or three stops on any of these buses: 98, 881, 916 and 982. With its black-and-white and beige décor in appearance it looks like other comfortable 4-star accommodations, but it’s unique in spirit because it belongs to the Frati Francescani Minori (www.ofm.org), whose motherhouse is on the hilltop directly above at Via Santa Maria Mediatrice 25. “Any profit we make,” Milena Gorga, the Manager, told me, “goes to the Brothers’ missions in over 100 countries. The Brothers try to spend our guests’ money wisely and make sure that it’s socially useful to that part of humanity that suffers. They run leprosy, AIDS centers and soup kitchens and are dedicated to eradicating poverty.”
All 71 rooms, if a bit small, have a safe, mini-bar, free Wi-Fi TV, air-conditioning, 4-way LED lighting, exclusive “Linea Terre” bath accessories, free bottled water, and special wall soundproof cladding which is decorated with verses of the “Canticle of the Sun”.
St. Francis composed this religious song during the spring of 1225, when he was sick at San Damiano and was being cared for by Clare and the Poor Sisters. Written in the Umbrian dialect, it’s believed to be among the first works of literature, if not the very first, written in Italian.
Many of the rooms have splendid views of St. Peter’s dome as do an 80-seat roof garden and the small chapel open 24-hours for prayer. Other amenities include a Lounge/Bar serving drinks and snacks, a 60-space garage and an over 200,000 square-foot park with a unique herb garden and woods for long walks and quiet meditation.
