As I had to stay one night in Rome on a trip from New York to lake Como (the great discount on Alitalia was only valid to Rome, not to Milan), I asked a friend of mine to book an hotel room in the Eternal City, which he did at the last minute.
Coming from FCO airport, I followed easily the indications you find on line. However I got a bit lost in the trip from the train/subway station to the via Clemente and the streets get very steep to climb; so be ready if you have many luggages!
The Alessandrino hotel is located in a remote area very close to the Vatican and very quiet, which you might appreciate at night.
But it's not an easy access to the center of the city.
At night, you have to take a taxi to get there. Which I did twice in a day.
My room was very small but very clean and comfortable (actually someone took a picture of it; room 201)
When I came back around midnight exhausted, a sketchy guy at the reception asked me if I still wanted my free breakfast at 8:10 in the morning. Earlier in the afternoon, I originally said 9 and then changed it to 8AM. So I told the guy in Italian it was 8AM and not 8:10...a weird time I remember thinking. The guy corrected it.
The following day as I got ready to go out to enjoy the morning, I couldn't find my wallet. Right away I thought I left it at the front desk cause I knew I had it when I paid the cab. The nice lady at the reception this morning didn't find anything and contacted the night shift guy who didn't find anything either.
I was a bit panicking cause I didn't have any money left and was supposed to reach the airport to catch a flight to Milan in the afternoon. Luckily the cousin of a friend of mine lived in Rome and met me to bring me some cash (I admit I was VERY lucky for that). So I went to see the local police - the carabinieri- to make an official statement that I lost my wallet with credit cards and driving license, after I called Visa and Mastercard to cancel my cards. In that regard, the hotel personnel during day time was very helpful and cooperative. They even let me used their acces to the web.
The following day when I was in Como, not only I realized that my three credit cards have been used for expensive sums at a local Rent car agency at the FCO airport, but I remember specifically that night opening my wallet before going to bed to take business cards and phone numbers I needed, putting it back in my jeans that I left on the tiny table near the TV, and LUCKILY placing my passport with my cell phone near the bed.
Which means that someone came into my room while I was sleeping and stole my wallet (I was dead tired as I landed in the morning and had been waking all day long) .
I know it sounds like paranoia but I swear I had my wallet in my jeans right before going to bed. I remembered even which cards and papers I pulled out from it to be ready for my trip the following day. And the ladies who brought me my breakfast at 8AM didn't get inside the room. Of course they could have come back when I was taking my shower, but my credit cards transactions appeared to have been done originally on Friday US time...which means the day before but if you consider the time difference between the US and Europe, most likely between midnight and 6AM Italian time.
Then my friends told me thieves stealing people while they were sleeping happened often not only in hotel rooms but even in private houses! Some even used spray. Which I don't believe was my case although I was very tired by the jetlag.
Retrospectively, I thought the young taxi driver that took me back to the hotel that night looked a bit odd to me but more importantly, the guy working at the reception at night seemed very strange. And I remember finding weird when I first checked in earlier in the morning that the only lock at the door was the key, and I couldn't tell which way was I supposed to turn it to lock it.
Once again I got lucky my passport didn't get stolen that night - I placed it near me - but more importantly that I didn't wake up to confront the thief, not knowing what could have been my reaction or his/theirs.
Apart from that incident, the hotel was nice and the personnel during the day too. But I would question the safety of the hotel itself, cause it seemed everyone could have get in and out at night...
Guillaume, New York
