My husband and I stayed at this hotel for one night last week. We were travelling from Romania to Ireland via Rome and missed our first connecting flight, so we had to find somewhere to stay overnight in Rome. So we purely needed a place to sleep for that one night, we weren't looking for anything too fancy and couldn't have afforded it anyway.
We booked a room at the Palacavicchi through the hotel reservations desk at Ciampino airport. We just told the clerk that we wanted to stay somewhere close by, that was cheap, secure and reasonably clean. She recommended the Palacavicchi, so we ended up there.
It was about two minutes away from the airport and the taxi driver knew it by name, so we didn't have to worry about giving directions.
The reception staff were polite and after checking in, we went to our room. It was very basic, as we'd expected it to be, but was clean and comfortable enough. The bathroom was ok, pretty clean apart from the shower which wasn't that nice - discoloured and old looking, also smelled a bit mouldy. But it wasn't dirty as such, everything had obviously been recently cleaned, just needed refitting perhaps.
We had dinner in the restaurant downstairs. The restaurant was much better than we were expecting it to be. We only ate there because it was late at night and we were too tired to go anywhere else. But we were surprised by how elegant and comfortable it was, we'd been expecting it to be somewhat dingy and depressing on account of it's being in a cheap airport hotel. But no, it was actually very relaxed and pleasant and it felt more like a being in a real restaurant than a hotel dining room. The waiters were helpful and friendly and there was a lot of choice on the menu. Prices very reasonable and the food was good. The house wine was lovely, which was a nice suprise too.
Breakfast in the restaurant next morning was continental buffet. Nothing very special at all but the croissants were nice enough. We were in a hurry anyway and only wanted to grab a coffee and something to eat quickly before catching our plane home, so it was more than adequate for us.
Anyway, I'd be happy to stay there again if I was in Rome for one night and just needed a place to sleep. It's basic but cheap, clean and secure and it's efficiently run. Some reviews have complained about the staff being rude but I really didn't find that at all - they weren't effusive but they were perfectly polite and helpful, or perhaps my husband and I were just lucky!
But I wouldn't choose the Palacavicchi as somewhere to stay for a real holiday or city break, it's just too basic, even if you're not looking for somewhere luxurious and romantic. But for business travel or for emergencies, you could do a lot worse.
