Adriano - Rome, Italy     

Rome was the last stop on our tour of Italy, and after staying in 2 fantastic hotels in Venice and Florence we were disappointed when we arrived here. The lobby and bar area are lovely, but when we got to our room it was tiny!! Also, the walls are paper thin and we were disturbed everytime the guests upstairs had a shower and woken up by the people next door who were chatting at 5.30am! The location is excellent with major attractions just a few minutes away, but if you're looking for a peaceful retreat after a day of sightseeing you won't find it here.

Rome was the first stop on our Honeymoon. We booked directly through the hotel website, and had no issues (or so we thought). When re- confirming the reservation, about a month before we were to arrive, I had asked to have a car pick us up at the airport to avoid fighting the mob scene. They said that it would be no problem, a driver would be waiting for us at the terminal with a sign. Well, we looked around for at least 20 minutes and never saw a sign with our name or the hotel on it. So, needless to say, we didn't have the best first impression of Rome. Upon arrival at the hotel, everything went smoothly. The room was very large, two stories, with a huge window. Even though we were overlooking the street, there was very little noise from outside. Everything in the room seemed to be fine until I tried to take a shower. There was no shower curtain, only a 2 foot by 3 foot pane of glass. The shower head was a disgrace...it didn't stay in place, and it sprayed in every direction except the one it was supposed to. This led to every shower being followed by sopping up the puddles all over the floor. Breakfasts were fairly minimal, mostly breads and juices and fruit cup. Overall, the common areas were perfectly fine. Everything seemed clean and orderly. Our biggest issue was with the front desk staff. Checking out we were basically ignored by the arrogant and rude people at the front desk. I had asked the day before about calling for a taxi to take us to the train station in the morning, and was told that they would call when we were checking out because it would only take a few minutes for the cab to arrive. So the morning of check out, I head up to the desk to pay and ask to have them call us a taxi. There was no real acknowledgement of my question, and there certainly was no answer, so I figured that they would call after the paperwork was done. After asking again once the bill was paid, I was told one was on its way and took a seat in the lobby with our bags. Another couple then arrived, also to check out, and was speaking Italian to the two people behind the desk. They checked out and walked out front to a taxi that was waiting for them. I waited another 5 or 10 minutes before getting up to ask again about the taxi. The man who checked us out, nodded in my direction and finally called the cab company. He then said a taxi would arrive in 4 minutes, so we went outside to wait. Overall, I would say the hotel itself was fine. The location was great, Piazza Navona is only minutes away, and most of the other sights are not much further. Out of the four different employees we saw at the front desk, only one was helpful, and the two during checkout were rude and unprofessional. It was enough to make me not want to recommend this hotel to anyone, because I'm sure there are hotels in the same area with similar amenities that have a more accomodating staff.