Club Isola Sacra Hotel-Fiumicino, Italy

We stayed at this hotel for one night because we had an early flight and were concerned that we would not make it from Rome. We looked for something closer to the airport, but could not find anything under 250 Euros. We paid 120 Euros, which was supposed to include breakfast. The hotel is located on a frontage road adjacent to the highway. There is a auto wrecking yard across the street and an auto sales place nearby. A couple of restaurants are within a block or two in each direction, but they were all closed. It appears that the hotel is adding a large multistory wing just to the right side of the existing building. No construction work was underway, but it might be noisy and dusty when they start work again.

When we arrived at the hotel we were “greeted” by a desk clerk who seemed very bored with her job. She checked us in and left the desk offering no instructions as to how we were to get to our room and no offer of help with the bags. She said nothing about when breakfast was served or any other services offered by the hotel. We asked about their shuttle to the airport and were told that we could go at 6:30 AM or 7:15 AM. Unfortunately the early time would not allow us to have breakfast and the later time might not get us to the airport on time. We decided to skip breakfast. and take the early shuttle.

We went up to the room and found it to be very much like you might expect at a Best Western type motel in the US. It had a double bed and a single bed. There was a large vanity/desk, good closet space, a flat screened TV and a large bathroom with shower. The room was somewhat sterile looking, but clean and presentable. I looked for information regarding room service or other hotel amenities, but found nothing.

We decided to have lunch at a restaurant down the street that was recommended by friends. When we got there, it was closed. We returned to the hotel and asked the desk clerk if it was open for dinner. She said it was a holiday and the restaurant would be closed today. She said the hotel had a restaurant where we could have lunch. This was the first time we were informed that they had one. We went into the restaurant and noticed that several tables were set for lunch and started to sit at one. A waitress ran over and told us not to sit down. She motioned us to a dirty table in another location that had no tablecloth or silverware and asked us if were sure we wanted to have lunch there. When we asked why she wanted us to sit there, she said a bus was about to arrive and the other tables were for the people in that group. We decided it was not a comfortable situation and told her we would go someplace else. We went back to the lobby and asked about another restaurant nearby and ware told that there was one about 20 meters to the right of the hotel. We walked over to that location and found a small pizza restaurant that was closed. We walked a couple more blocks and the only place open was a pool hall-bar type dive. They had sandwiches that were heated in a microwave. It was our only choice, so we had one but kept our fingers crossed hoping not to get food poisoning..

When we were leaving the restaurant at the hotel, a gentleman stopped us to ask why we were not having lunch there. We explained why and I asked him whether it might be possible to get some breakfast food to take along to the airport since we would be leaving before the breakfast room was open. He said he would fix us up with something. The next morning, I walked down to the restaurant and noticed that almost all the food was placed out on the serving table, but the door to the area was still closed. I asked if I could take a roll and he said that he was not yet ready to serve breakfast and I would have to wait. I said I was about to leave on the shuttle because we had an early flight and he reluctantly said that I could have a roll. I took one and left. I guess that is how he intended to “fix us up.”

We went to the hotel restaurant for dinner and the waiter provided us with a menu that was many pages long. We had a difficult time trying to decide what to order. The waitress came and told us that she had several items available tonight and proceeded to run through the list. We assumed that they were specials that were available in addition to those on the menu. When we were ready to order, my wife asked for something off the menu and the waitress said, “I just told you what I have available tonight, you can’t order those things on the menus.” She then proceeded to go through her list again. We wondered why we were given a menu if none of those items were available. Perhaps we did not understand their system.

The room was clean and acceptable. The location was quiet, but the neighborhood is questionable. The staff seems bored and poorly trained. The dinner in the restaurant was OK I would recommend this place for folks that can’t afford to pay 200 to 300 Euros to be at one of the places near the airport, but I would reluctantly stay there again. Perhaps there might be another option between Rome and the airport with reasonable prices but a better-trained staff and nicer location.