Mirage - Rome, Italy     

I promised my mom we would be in Rome for her birthday celebration. And so we arrived the night before coming from Pisa. At first when we arrived the girl in the reception noted in my mom?s passport her upcoming birthday and congratulated her. I though that to be so kind of her. However, our following experiences at Hotel Mirage were not that good at all. Although not mentioned on its website, I was not allowed to pay with my credit card. In accordance with the lady in the reception, that policy was due to a highly discounted rate... I know they have the right to refuse credit cards if they want, but I would highly appreciate if that was stated clearly in their website. In my case, I had a credit card that permitted international withdrawals, but there might be someone who could not get cash abroad to pay for it. The second problem was regarding the breakfast. Well, not the breakfast itself, but the badly educated girl that was responsable for the breakfast room. At first she was able to speak only italian. No English at all, no French, No Spanish, just Italian. I know Italian is the official language of Italy, but being Rome a tourist city and being that Hotel dedicated to tourist (at least I imagine that because it is actually located beside Rome?s main train station), it would be a great deal if all of its employees could speak at least basic words in English, like milk, coffee, water, well, these may make you imagine that she could not speak no English at all.... and that was true. The other problem with this girl is that she was so rude... she could not spek softly, but she screamed at all time, making one think that she was making you a great favor to let you have the breakfast you had paid for.... I am sorry, but I can't cope with stupid people... To complete mu unsatisfaction with that hotel, at 10:30am someone was knocking on my door and screaming loudly in Italian... I really don?t know what she was screaming, but I can imagine that she complained cos I did not leave the room before that time. However, to my knowledge, there was no time to leave the rooms or to arrive... otherwise that hotel would not be a hotel, but a hostel... She did not start her show outside until I woke up and open the door. For my surprise and disgust, she was the same girl that I had problems in the breakfast... We had a terrible discussion in the aisle, but I imagine she did not understand anything I said at all. To finalize, the day before we checked out I was asked to pay for our stay (I stayed 4 nights there). However, the lady in the reception said that I was not given back my 20 euro deposit until we check out next morning, because she was affraid we would take home her remote control and room key... Well, as you can imagine, I would never recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to be in a good place to enjoy all of Rome's attractions. By staying there you?ll certainly get into disgusting troubles that may compromise you Rome visit. Not to forget, although the rooms are small, they?re quite confortable, but it?s worth mentioning that they turn on heating around 10 pm and turn it off at 7:00. Therefore the remaing of the day your room gets very cold if you travel in winter like I did. Also, although there?s an air conditions device in the room we cannot use it because it?s opperated with a remote control that does not exist. To summarize, forget this hotel. If you want to be next to Termini Station in Rome there are plenty of hotels nearby.... everywhere you look in this street and also on Via Marsala beside the station there are hotels and restaurants... so it wont be any trouble to find another better place to stay with competitive prices.