Now I am no hotel snob but at the very least you expect some kind of service, especially at a 5 star hotel. The hotel itself is quite modern and funky but it is seriously let down by the incompetence of its staff.

1. On our first day, we ordered a couple of drinks by the pool and they forgot 3 times and we waiting 45 minutes and we received no apology, the bar wasn't even busy.

2. We visited the hotel bar in the evening and again ordered drinks, waited about 20 minutes in a quiet bar and when asking the staff where the drinks were, they said they had problems and it would be another 10 minutes - why couldn't they have told us instead we sit there like dummies.

3. And to top it all off, we could not find laundry bags so took some trousers to reception to send for ironing, they wouldn't take them and sent us back upstairs to look for laundry bag which we still couldn't find so we went to Reception again to ask could they leave a note for the housekeeper but they wouldn't.

On the last night, I wrote a complaint and left at Reception for Hotel Manager and nobody contacted me to apologise and nothing was said when we checked out.

The style of hotel is funky but it you actually want them to do anything forget it. We visited the Exedra for dinner and it was amazing, the staff were very nice to us and it made our holiday, it doesn't take much.

I would never stay at this hotel again and would not recommend it.

We stayed at the SAS at the end of April. The hotel itself was everything we expected. Unique and ultra modern. From the moment you walk into the airy reception with the "ambience music" surrounding you there is a feeling that you have left the hot and busy streets of Rome. This contrast was nice. After spending all day sightseeing with so many other tourists, looking at ancient buildings it is nice to come back to this modern hotel. We thought the room was amazing, although the controls took a bit of getting used to. Our room was just the bacic kind. It had a shower behind the bed and the separate toilet (with frosted glass door). We never found privacy an issue. It was fun finding all the gadgets and in fact we did not find the door with the full length mirror until our second day. We found the area to be safe although you could tell that it was not as nice as the tourist parts, but nowhere near as bad as I expected from some of the other reviews. It depends what you are used to, and compared to London I felt just as safe. The weather was about 28C and so we made full use of the rooftop pool and bar which was always welcome after a full day of walking. We also ate in the hotel on 2 nights which I would not normally do. We ate in the bar and the restaurant and both meals were excellent although I think I actually preferred the bar menu and it was very reasonable compared to some of the other places we ate in. The only criticism of the hotel was the staff by the pool who seemed to take ages to serve you. We soon learnt that you had to be pro-active if you wanted a quick drink. Overall I would recommend staying at this hotel although I realise that because it is quite unique it may not appeal to all tastes

After reading the reviews on this site since December when I booked our tickets, I hoped that I was prepared for the trip. Collectively, this site told me to expect: Small but unique rooms, high prices at the restaurant, somewhat slow service, a downtrodden area surrounding the hotel, but most of all a unique experience. My expectations, and those of my wife, and her sister and husband were fulfilled -- we knew what we were getting into. We prepared as such -- packing light, eating out at every meal (there are entirely too many great restaurants and cafes in Rome not to!), being patient, and briskly moving through and around the Termini and staying away from the street vendors.

I've never stayed at a hotel quite like this one. It's urban, funky and cool -- there was an Italian feature film shoot going on when we arrived. Most of the experiences are unique to oridinary hotel stays, from the entirely black-clad staff, to the minimalistic furniture and room design to the pulsating house music that permeated the lobby and common areas. The entire time you feel engaged in an ambiance that can't quite be duplicated elsewhere in Rome. We visited many other local hotels --- all were of the overstuffed, luxury variety -- and somewhat "ordinary fare" for this city. Although it's certainly not 5-star material, there's a uniqueness to it that cannot be duplicated.

The hotel met my expectations because we were prepared. Thanks to all who submitted reviews.

we expected the the worst after booking the hotel & seeing the reviews after . i must say i dont know what people expect these days! on arrival from fuminci airport via train .{dont use the taxis as very expensive} we approached the hotel on the left hand side . 2 minutes after leaving the train we are in reception with the attentive staff seeing to our baggage & locating our room . i would advise being at the front of the hotel or overlooking the court yard , not the termini side.
1 st comment of the hotel was the helpfulness of the staff .{nb this was fri 8th april 05 & was very busy due to the popes funeral} on arrival to our room our baggage was already in our room to be unpacked . nb do take lots of hangers as this is very minamilistic !! room was very nice & overlooking the neighbourhood . we only had breakfast in the room one day & drank in the bar on 2 occasions which was expensive, dont use the mini bar as 9 euro for small peroni beer ! only 0.89 cents in spar in termini . regarding the area we had no problems but i am sure it may be off putting for others being so close to the termini & less undesirables . the termini is great for seeing & getting about in rome , dont use any other transport .{apart from taxis at night for restaurants etc}
also as it rained no stop for 3days it was a pleasure to use 1 euro for all parts of rome .
dont miss eating & drinking in piazza novano square , watching performing artists {even better if the sun shines}
for the old type pizzeria we ate at est est est {book though as busy with locals} 3 course meal with wine & beers unbeliveably 32 euro
sat pm we ate at gusto , if you like traditional food pizza , pasta use the downstairs bar etc , more refined diners the 1 st floor restaurant . this was resonable at 75 euros for 2 courses & wine , but alot more upmarket .
in short great stay , great hotel though will be in the need of an makeover shortly not 5 star good 4 star , good location {for transport}, nice staff , great city .