Rouge Et Noir Hotel & Conference Center - Rome, Italy     

Having read loads of reviews of this hotel I really didn't know what to expect as some said it was great, other rubbish. I really liked staying at this hotel. The rooms were clean with comfy beds - yes a little basic (like no tea and coffee bits). The hotel staff were helpful, and the shuttle bus was great, although only ran once every couple of hours and it was 2 euros return each. The pool was really nice, with a little cafe, although you had to pay before 5pm to go and use it but it was free from 5pm - 7pm which is great after a day out in Rome. Breakfast was continental and probably the bad bit about this hotel - quite basic and not much variety but it was totally edible and did exactly what it said on the tin. Price was reasonable (around ?55 per night). Overall, we're a young couple, and so for us we really enjoyed the hotel. It did seem a little far out of town, but that was sometimes a blessing after the craziness of sightseeing with thousands of tourists. It was clean and comfy and we'd definitely go back again if we're ever in Rome.

As somoene who has stayed in several hotels in Italy, my family and I were highly disappointed with our experience at the Rouge Et Noir. It definitely could have been much worse, but considering we could have payed the same amount of money and stayed in a much nicer, more conveniently located place we were kicking ourselves for making this reservation. The easiest way to review this hotel is to start from the beginning. The staff was welcoming, the lobby was nice, and the room appeared clean upon our initial inspection. However, within a few hours my allergies were killing me. The entire night I could not breathe through my nose at all and had to use my asthma inhaler 3 times in the night. We would leave the hotel to sight-see and my symptoms would subside but every time we came back to the room I was miserable. There is only one thing that causes me to get that ill and it is mold. There was no mold visible, but in my experience it is the only allergen that has ever triggered those symptoms in me. Also, while on the subject of cleanliness, I looked down to the foot of the bed and noticed grass and leaves on the floor. I tugged on the "clean" sheets that had been tucked in under the mattress and a handful of grass and leaves fell out with the sheet!! They had been tucked up under the mattress in the sheets. The very first night we realized the shower head would not stay on the wall holder. The minute you turned the water on it began spraying wildly all over the bathroom and you could not shower without holding the sprayer in one hand and washing yourself with the other. Also, our toilet would not flush at all. We could push the button as many times as we wanted and the water just swirled around. We actually had to take the elevator to the lobby 5 floors below us to use the restroom. My husband brought this to their attention our very FIRST night there and it was never taken care of. We had 2 friends traveling with us, so we asked for extra towels before heading in for the night. They told us they were bringing some up. We fell asleep and woke the next morning to realize that no towels had ever been brought to us. The customer service was horrible during our stay. Many reviewers have mentioned a friendly, helpful staff but there must have been a different group working at these times! Every time we asked for anything at all the staff acted as though we were bothering them. Our first day we inquired about the distance of the metro station and were told it was about a 10 minute walk and very easy to reach. After walking for 10 minutes we stopped to ask someone if we were headed in the right direction. They told us it was about 5 more minutes. Finally, after a 45 minute walk down a winding road with little- to- no sidewalks in the blazing sun we reached the metro station. After returning that night after a day of sight-seeing we had to walk all the way back up the poorly lit hill in the dark. We were NOT prepared for his at all after being told by hotels.com and the hotel staff that it was a short walk. The shuttle service in the best bet, however if you want to get an early jump on the day it doesn't work. We had early reservations and tours planned and were only able to use the shuttle on our last day b/c the first bus is at 8:00, meaning you don't get to the Piazza until at least 8:30 and add a metro ride to that and you are looking at 9:00 or 9:30 before you reach your intended destination. It was just a mess to be completley honest. We felt like we wasted SO much time just getting to where we needed to be. On the 2nd day that we used the metro we decided to call a cab from the Pietralata Metro station to drive us up the hill to the hotel. My husband called the hotel and asked if they could please call us a cab. They told my husband they would gladly call a cab for us. After about 35 minutes and a few more calls, no cab showed up and we ended up once again making the 45 minute treck up the hill in the dark. You have to pay for the pool, which was packed the entire time we were there b/c the locals can use the pool, as well. The breakfast actually wasn't too bad for people who are used to Italian style breakfasts. If you live in the states and have never experienced the way Italian's do breakfast I can see how the breakfast would have been disappointing, but for an Italian breakfast it was actually a nice variety. I have lived in Italy for over 2 years, so it was exactly what I was expecting. However, they did not do a good job keeping the cold items cold and one morning the milk I poured in my 2 year-old's cup was sour. Thank goodness I smelled it before I let him drink it. In conclusion I would not reccomend this hotel to anyone. With more research you can find a much nicer option for the same price. We have stayed in hotels in Florence, Latina, Naples, and Palermo and this was BY FAR the worse we have ever stayed in. We actually just got free vouchers from hotels.com b/c we had so many unresolved problems with our stay.