Vatican hotel invite? No thanks

Tim Busch will have an audience with Pope Francis this month as a board member of the Papal Foundation, but the Irvine-based luxury hotel owner turned down his chance to stay at the Doma Santa Marta at the Vatican.

The Doma Santa Marta, seen below, sometimes described as the Vatican's luxury hotel, is where the cardinals stayed during the papal conclave and where Pope Francis has decided to live rather than in the papal apartments.

The entrance to the Doma Santa Marta at the Vactican has marble floors, but the rooms are considered spartan.

For Busch, whose U.S. hotels feature such creature comforts as California king-size beds with 350-thread count Italian linens, the Vatican hotel falls a little short of his idea of luxury.

"There's no room service, the rooms have a single cot, and it's lights out at 9 o'clock," Busch said. "No thanks."

Busch will stay at a hotel on Via Veneto instead.