Liliumhotel

We stayed at the Liliumhotel for 3 nights in June 2009 after a cruise. I don’t want to mislead anyone by providing too many good or bad opinions about this hotel, so I will just try to present the facts as best I can.

We chose this hotel because my wife wanted to visit the Borghese museum and gardens and it was a short walk to that location. We also looked for a hotel that was in a price range that we would choose if traveling at home. We paid 133 Euros per night for the room. By American standards, that is probably about 50% higher than I would expect to pay for a hotel of similar quality at home. I have no idea whether the price was good or bad for Rome, but we did look at a number of places on the Internet and we read a lot of reviews before we chose this one. The neighborhood was convenient for restaurants and transportation. We were disappointed in the amount of graffiti on the walls of all the buildings in the area. It would appear that there are a lot of people here that have no pride.

The hotel is on the third or fourth story of a large building and could be difficult to find. I don’t remember seeing the name of the hotel displayed anyplace on the front of the building. I printed out photos of the building that I found on the Internet so I could show them to the taxi drivers. They helped on several occasions when we hired taxis to return to the hotel. All you see from the street are two very large wooden doors with an arch above them. The name of the hotel is listed on a directory on the right side of the doors. Press the button and they will buzz open the doors.

A few minutes after we pressed the bell, one of the desk clerks showed up to help us with our bags. We were happy for the help. The bags must be carried up one story to where the elevator starts. Then two trips were necessary to get the bags and us up to the hotel, as the elevator is very small. Once we arrived at the hotel lobby, we were very graciously checked into our room and the clerk again took our bags to our room and showed us how to use the controllers for the air conditioner, fan, and TV. The room also has a motorized blind that comes down on the outside of the patio doors to block off the sun on bright days in case one wants to nap during the day. He showed us the controls that were located behind one of the drapes on the right side of the glass doors. There was a lovely little balcony outside the doors with a small table and two chairs where two people could enjoy a drink surrounded by plants and flowers.

The room was quite small by modern American standards. It appeared to actually be smaller than a typical cruise ship cabin. The bed was close to the floor, so it was not possible to put our bags underneath it. That caused the room to feel even smaller and congested. There was a fan over the bed and an air conditioner high up on the wall over the bathroom door. The TV was also mounted high on the wall to the left of the bathroom door. There was a refrigerator and a small vanity table, but the table had no mirror to assist women with their makeup. There was a small closet that was just adequate for our needs. Reading lamps and nightstands were on either side of the bed and the lights were adequate. There was also a light over the entry door and another one high above one corner of the room. The lighting was good.

The bath was small, but had everything required except storage space for personal items. A very small shelf above the sink was all that was available for shaving gear, etc. The shower had a fiberglass enclosure with two sliding doors that both closed on a corner. They were somewhat difficult to open and close, but after working with them, the chore got easier. There appeared to be a towel warmer on one wall, but I was unable to figure out how it worked. Warm towels would have been a nice touch. They supplied soap, shampoo, etc. I did not understand why the soap was in the shape of a golf ball, but it seemed to do its job.
Whenever we needed help or directions, there was always somebody available at the front desk to assist us and they always did so graciously. They have wireless laptops that can be borrowed for an hour at a time for Internet use and we did that on several occasions to send email home. They worked well.

The hotel has a continental breakfast that is included in the price. I usually like a more substantial breakfast when I am traveling, but I was very impressed with the quality of the continental breakfast. I started with a sandwich made with a very fresh roll, sliced ham and Swiss cheese. It was no less than wonderful. With it I had the best pineapple juice that I have ever tasted and cappuccino coffee made to order. They had an enormous coffeemaker and the lady working in the breakfast room offered us about 6 kinds of brew including American coffee. The only drawback was that the cups were only about half full and several cups were required to get a normal American helping. She was always happy to brew up another cup for us. After finishing my breakfast sandwich, I discovered that they had croissants on another counter that I had not noticed before. I decided to try one and it was outstanding. I have never had one that good in my entire life. I filled it with Austrian Johannes berry jam that was one of about 10 different jams offered in small, individual jars. I followed that with another croissant with another kind of jam. It was heaven. Each day, I tried a different kind of jam. They were all excellent. My mouth is watering as I write this.

The entire hotel was kept in spotless condition, especially the floors which were cleaned daily and gleamed. The birds in a corner of the breakfast area added a homey touch and the flower arrangement at the front desk was gorgeous. We felt that the owners of this hotel did everything they could to make our stay as comfortable and memorable as possible.

When we were ready to leave we needed transportation to Fiumicino (near the airport) where we were going to spend our last night before flying home. Somewhere I had read that the hotel could arrange for a car and driver to take us there at a rate less costly and more comfortable than a taxi. The desk clerk made a call for us and we got a very nice car to take us to the other hotel. It took over an hour to get there and the total cost was 40 Euros. I had read that we could pay far more than this amount for the same ride, so considered this to be a bargain.

We were extremely satisfied with our stay at this hotel and would not hesitate to recommend it to our friends and family.