What a grim experience. My girlfriend and I stayed at this hotel for one night prior to returning home after a holiday in Rome and Sorrento (see my other reviews), it was the worst of the four hotels in which we stayed.

It appears that the hotel is principally set up for corporate visits and had a conference centre feel about it. To be more specific, it had a tired, dirty, 1970s conference centre feel about it. I wish I could think of something nice to say about this hotel, but I can't.

The room had the atmosphere and furnishings of a soviet era council flat, while the staff serving at breakfast clearly thought that their job would be more tolerable if only they weren't forced to provide a grudging and hopelessly inadequate service to their unfortunate guests. In fact, the breakfast service was so bad, that if you managed to catch up with one of the elusive waiting staff to make some wholly unreasonable request for coffee/toast/breakfast generally, you shouldn't be surprised to be told that, under the unfathomably specific breakfast staff hierarchy, the person you were speaking to was responsible for untoasted bread products and you should direct your query to one of the other lightning fast (yet possibly blind?) waiting staff, who may be persuaded, with much pleading and at a time of their convenience, to assist.

Immediately on leaving the hotel you are met by a four lane road, which, while a blessed relief after the hotel interior, was a pain to cross. Our room had a view of a neighbouring building, but you can guess what the front facing rooms looked onto.

Stay here only if you are looking for a benchmark against which to rate all other bad hotels.

If you want an alternative, I would recommend Hotel Villa San Pio (see my review on Trip Advisor: Peaceful Oasis in a busy city).

We had stayed at the Jolly V V in 1993 and found it to be very clean, nicely decorated, fresh, well-located and good value (included VAT and buffet breakfast). When we read the reviews this year prior to booking we were disappointed to see that the hotel had not kept up the terrific standard we had enjoyed BUT we did find out that there were a few terraces. We used email to make our reservation for 4 nights and asked for a room with a private terrace. When we arrived we had to push a little at the desk to get the terrace but we got it. Room 521. (we wanted the 7th floor because the terraces would have better views). The room was adequate - good bathroom, good closet, dresser, flat screen tv (small), bar fridge, electric kettle and coffee/tea packets, window facing Villa Borghese, terrible bed, airconditioning difficult to adjust, glass doors to terrace (step up). The terrace was awesome - 14' x 20' with a nice patio table and chairs. During our four nights at the Jolly; we would enjoy coffee on our terrace in the morning, a lovely buffet, tour in the morning, enjoy a nice lunch on our terrace, walk again all afternoon then back to the terrace for relaxing before heading out for dinner.
Located near the top of Via Veneto we found it easy to walk to Spanish Steps thru the tunnel, down to Trevi, etc. Sometimes we took a taxi back to the hotel for around 8 Euros. We paid 200 Euros per night - VAT and Breakfast included.
Kathy

I had two nights in the Jolly Hotel and problems first started when I checked in and I could not get the room I wanted and was put in a 'deluxe' room over looking the dlightful Corso Italiano, a very (24 Hour) busy throughfare, which seemed to be used for Italian drivers to test their car horns!!!
The room had barely any room at all, with a desk cramped up against the bed, and internet access was expensive and intermittent on the 5th floor (It was much better on the ground floor in the bar, where I ended up having do my work in a reliable way).
Room service was OK, and food was OK, but I have stayed in better hotels for far less money and I would warn all visitors to be very careful about rates.
This was not by any stretch of the imagination value for money.

Being disinclined to spend a small fortune on a Rome hotel - Holy Week prices seem particularly steep - we decided to brave the Jolly Hotel Vittorio Veneto, despite some very negative reviews on this website.

What an excellent choice this turned out to be. For €185 per night - a steal by Roman standards - we had a large, well-appointed room, with a fantastic roof terrace overlooking the Borghese Gardens, and an excellent view of St Peter's in the distance. The bathroom was perfectly adequate, and came complete with a decent length bath - as opposed to merely a shower. Everything was spotlessly clean.

Breakfast - served in the slightly 70s feeling ground floor restaurant - was included in the price. This consisted of a buffet, with a choice of the usual ham, salami, cheese etc, bacon and eggs, and a range of other goodies. Enough to stock up for the day if need be.

The service was perfectly pleasant and efficient. We also used the hotel's car to the airport - slightly more than the fixed price taxi fare (although arguably this does not apply since the hotel is just outside the walls of Rome) but a whole lot pleasanter.

The location of the hotel is superb - if you like this end of Rome, that is. It is a short walk to the Spanish Steps and the Via Veneto (a stone's throw from Harry's Bar), just opposite the entrance to the Borghese Gardens, and pretty close to the best (in my view) collection in Rome, namely the Villa Borghese.

Altogether, highly recommended.