Dharma Boutique Hotel & SPA

The Dharma Boutique Hotel & SPA is in via Urbana, in the heart of the Monti district, the part of Rome where artisan workshops and climbing alleys coexist with the Colosseum ten minutes away on foot. Cavour underground station is round the corner and Termini can be reached on foot: it is a rare base, central but tucked away, inside a historic building looking out over the rooftops of the district.

There are thirteen rooms, few by choice, carefully done in their materials and finishes. Above is the panoramic terrace, which looks over the rooftops of the city and is the right place to end the day. The house is reserved for adults: guests are admitted from the age of sixteen.

A spa just for two

The wellness centre here is not a shared area to be used alongside the other guests. It is booked, and during the booked hours it stays entirely at the disposal of two people at a time. Inside there are the sauna, the Turkish bath, which at the Dharma genuinely exists, and the jacuzzi tub, plus an experience shower and a relaxation area where you can pause between one session and the next. There is also an equipped gym, available to guests.

The list covers five massages, from the relaxing one to the draining one and on to the aroma touch, bookable singly or as a couple. There are no swimming pools: this is the historic centre of Rome, and the real facility here is privacy.

It is the address for a couple who want to see Rome by day and find silence again in the evening, without the noise of a large hotel and with an hour of sauna reserved for themselves alone.