Okay... I am writing this review a couple of years after staying here but from what I have read of the recent reviews, I think it's safe to say that this is still relevant. My wife (at that time, my fiance) and I stayed at the hotel for 3 nights in November of 2006 on the way back to Sicily from the US. Found a good price on a travel website and we were content considering that it was a 5 star in Rome. The hotel is elegant in a certain way but definitely could use some type of renovation. I can certainly understand the desire to keep a classical feel to the place, but there is classical done well and then classical that is just old, and some features of the hotel - especially the rooms - were just old (i.e. furniture). The pool was out of use being November, so I guess we missed out on one of the best parts of the hotel (considering other reviews). The breakfast buffet was included in the price and was adequate but nothing impressive; certainly not indicative of a 5 star hotel.
I gave this hotel an overall rating of 3 stars but was debating whether to give it 2. The service was subpar for anywhere and especially for a 5 star place (I know that I continue to harp upon the 5 star rating, but if you pay for 5 stars, you expect 5 stars and you paragon to hotels of similar ratings, right?). There was one young man there from Sardegna who was extremely kind and considerate but some of the others seemed like they were doing you a favor if they provided you with assistance. I am certainly not the typical naive American traveler (I live in Italy, am married to an Italian, speak fluent Italian, etc.), but you wouldn't have been able to tell from the treatment. There was one man in particular behind the front desk who was extremely rude (foreign name; was not Italian). I recall on one occasion that I had just worked out in their small gym and was sweating a little as I crossed through the lobby to go back to my room (there was no shower or changing facility in the gym), and this guy began to criticize me for doing this. I made sure to get in his face about it and he quickly backed down (I am 6'4" and weight 230 of muscle), but the audacity to even address me about this was ridiculous. Even the recommendations from some of the staff for dinner and that kind of stuff was less than adequate (with the exception of one evening).
Bottom line is that this is a 3 star hotel disguised as a 5 star. I would not recommend spending 300 euro a night or whatever it was to stay here. There are better hotels in Rome for 100/night and you can spend the money on other things.
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