We had booked a three night stay at the hotel for the bank holiday in May, however by day two we were checked out and booking into the Radisson hotel in the centre of Rome. Needless to say we were not impressed by the Hotel American Palace. The poor location could be forgiven (being right at the end of the metro line and having a severe lack of shops or amenities in the area), however it was the service, or lack of it should I say, that was most appalling. Though it is not the most expensive hotel in Rome, you would still expect a certain level of customer service from the staff. Unfortunately this is not something that this hotel provides. Staff on reception were rude, completely unhelpful and informed us in a less than friendly tone that irons are not avaliable at the weekend (do people only iron clothes in the week??) and that we could not have a drink from the bar during daytime hours. not even a can of coke. Even when we checked out early they did not ask why or if everything had been ok. The decor is seriously dated and the rooms are fairly well sized but lack a functioning air conditioning unit , which over the extremely hot bank holiday was quite unbearable. This is not a hotel we will be recommending to others.

We booked this hotel off the back of the photos and the price before reading reviews on the hotel. This trip was our dream honeymoon to Rome and having read reviews after we had booked, we were expecting the Honeymoon from hell.

Reasons for booking:- didnt want to be in the centre of Rome with all the hustle, bustle and noise but wanted good transport links into city centre. Location of hotel could not be better as Metro is just across the road and only 15/20 mins to city centre.

Upon arrival (11.30 a.m) we were told that we could not check in until 2 p.m.. Basil lookalike and his sidekick Manuel could not of been less helpful in directing us to the supermarket and Metro but as we had a few hours to kill we braved it ourselves. The supermarket is just up the road and we used this regularly to purchase water, wine and nibbles. As a rule you will pay anything from 1.50 - 2.50 euros for a cold bottle of small water from stands and a full 1.5 litre bottle from supermarket was 0.35 euros. Just pray your fridge works in the hotel room. Ours didnt and tried the leaving the door open trick but that had no impact. Couldnt be bothered to complain having read other reviews and the lack of urgency to problems from Manuel & Basil.

On the first night we didnt feel like going into the city centre as been up since 2 in the morning. We decided to eat in the resturant. DONT do it !!! we waited a good hour to finally get our meal which was very nice. However, we had a main course each, 2 side dishes and water and it came to 49 euros !!! The wine is ever so overpriced, 16 euros for half bottle!!! you can get a half decent bottle of Frascati from the Supermarket for 3.50 euros.. You do the maths.. The other thing is that they give preference to local Italians over guests and this is blatantly obvious to all!!!

Breakfast is only cold meats, bread, cereal, fruit, yoghurt and very continetal.. We had no problem with this as if u want a full english, go to Spain. Unlimited amounts so you can get a good fill before you then go out and treak the city.

The hotel was very clean but it seems as though the resturant and bar were run as a seperate business. We insisted upon a double room at the back of the hotel having read reviews of how noisy it is at the front. This was just perfect as we ended up with a suite room which was very large and comfortable. If you can, request the same as the normal double rooms are very small apparently. The maids did a great job every day and left the rooms spotless.

Even though we renamed the hotel "Fawlty American Palace" we had a pleasant time there and for the cost would recommend. Its not a four star hotel and at best a good 3. Doubt we would stay again but location good for transport and a good base to start from.. not much else around the hotel to do but if like us you are only using it as somewhere to sleep, get refreshed and have breakfast then its just fine..

Stayed in this hotel for 2 nights. Breakfast was not bad - coffee machine was not brilliant. Only a choice of cold rolls with ham or cheese, croissants, fruit and yoghurts. The room was very nice - we were on the 5th floor - nice and quiet apart from the room next door had people singing in it until 1am! Television with 1 English news channel. Plenty of lights. 2 large balconies but no where to sit! No duvets. Blankets. Easy to get to from the main Termini in Rome to Laurentina and when you come out of the station it is just up the road. Good supermarket nearby which you can stock up on drinks for your mini fridge in the room (far cheaper than hotel prices). Excellent to get to Colloseum from.

The positives: the room was clean, the furniture new, the reception staff efficient.
The negatives: the (single) room was tiny. The temperature gauge on the (old) radiator was missing, the table map did not work, the door to the bathroom did not close, the windows were single glazed and rattled, the room door afforded no sound insulation and conversations at the end of the corridor sounded as if they were in the room, the gym was small and stuffed with machines (no treadmill though, nor TV).
The worst: the night I ate there, there was no menu, no prices, choice from waiter for the second course was "steak, chicken or pork", we were offered no bread, no water, no salt / pepper...; the breakfast the next morning was frankly dreadful and seemed to be as cheap as they could possibly get away with - bad orange juice out of a machine (ie not fresh orange), horrible coffee out of a machine; the cheese was plasticky; there were no teaspoons (soup spoons had to be used to eat yoghourt and stir sugar into coffee); you had to find your own table, ask for plates, join long line for the coffee machine.

The hotel was busy and I was left wondering who would choose to stay there (I was working nearby) : it looked liked German coach trippers. There appears to be a dearth of good hotels nearby. Stay here if you absolutely have to, but eat elsewhere and as someone else said, don't expect a 4 star hotel.