We stayed in the hotel (Room #151) from Monday, 08MAY06 to Saturday, 13MAY06. My husband was attending a conference sponsored by an Italian government ministry, so this was our only hotel option.
Note: We typically stay on the Vatican side of the Tiber, in a small, family-run hotel.
Positives:
1. Everyone seemed very nice and helpful, especially when things were going wrong (which they did quite often, unfortunately).
2. The room was clean, as was the bathroom.
3. Never ran out of hot water, nor were we scalded or frozen to death when someone in another room flushed the toilet.
4. The room was quiet; but we were in the back, facing an air shaft and office building. I, understand, however, from other conference attendees that street noise was a problem in other rooms.
5. The hotel lobby and bar are non-smoking.
6. The breakfast buffet was extensive and well-stocked.
Damning with faint praise, aren't I?
Negatives:
1. While the small room was expected (this is Rome), the odd decor wasn't. (Although we were warned in another review.) I must agree that the rooms, although recently painted and nicely faux-finished, were filled with furniture which appeared to come from a hotel garage-sale, circa 1965.
2. Many maintenance problems:
a. Bathroom ceiling leaked
b. Air conditioning stopped working
c. Electricity failed
d. Room safe nonfunctional
While all were fixed promptly, it became tiresome having to call maintenance just about every day of our stay.
3. A room was not available upon our arrival -- at 1545. We were left to cool our heels in the lobby for 45 minutes while a room was found.
4. Problems with the initial reservation.
My husband made the reservation for two persons, in a double, non-smoking room approximately one month before our arrival date. When I called to confirm the reservation, I was told that he was assigned a single room for a day later than the arrival date. While management was able to change the reservation (after I was initially told changes were "impossible"), my husband had to fax his request to the hotel. I suspect that the contract from the Italian Ministry of Defense had something to do with their willingness to change things.
5. This is a tourist hotel, and is not capable (although it claims otherwise) of supporting business functions.
My husband, before an impromptu briefing, asked for Xerox copies of a few pages of documents. He was told it was "impossible" and was sent up the street to a tobacco shop. While I fault the organizers of the conference for their selection, a hotel which advertises itself as able to support business affairs should at least be able to make a few copies.
6. There are no "Do Not Disturb" cards in the room.
I guess it's because the management wants and expects us tourists to be up and at 'em at oh-dark-thirty, but the lack of cards means that one can expect a maid to knock on one's door sometimes as early as 0730. As a matter of fact, the day we departed, the maid knocked at 0730, 0800, 0815, and 0830. No doubt, management was concerned with not having a repeat of the problem mentioned in paragraph 3.
7. While the neighborhood isn't as bad and I'd been warned about, it wasn't great. Much traffic noise and a steady stream of tourists, business people, and others. (Others being a euphanism for rather seedy-looking characters.) The restaurants in the area were of the Let's-Rip-Off-The-Tourist variety (a report provided by other conference attendees - we ate on the other side of the Tiber).
Overall, while the place wasn't horrible, I'd not go back -- either to the hotel or section of town.
