This hotel has so much potential I'm disappointed to have to give it a mid-level review.
Let me start with the good points. I think that the location is ideal. It is located in a very beautiful, quiet, safe neighborhood, yet the train station is only an 6-800 meter walk. From there you have only a very short metro ride to the center of the city. I've been to Rome before and appreciated staying out of the busy areas. The facility and gardens are beautiful; we took a room with a terrace and really enjoyed the fresh air and views of the city. The food and food service were outstanding.
The only negative about this hotel, and it was a big one, is the Front Desk service. I only had two minor issues to address with them over a 5 night stay and they did poorly with both issues. I thought that maybe it was the one grumpy guy so I asked to deal with other staff and there was no difference in response. I got the clear impression that these staff were there based on seniority and tenure, not based on capability and service level. In total I dealt with each of the three Front Desk staff that I saw over 5 days and they were all the same; poor attitudes and not very helpful. I travel a lot and don't consider myself very demanding...this Front Desk staff was really, really bad.
Issue #1, the toilet smelled bad. I asked for it to be specially cleaned each of the 5 days that I was there with no change as a result. In fact I saw no evidence that there was any attempt to do anything extra beyond the normal daily cleaning. I've traveled all over Italy and Europe, and I've never had this problem, especially in such an otherwise quality hotel.
Problem #2, on my day of departure I asked the Front Desk to arrange a taxi to take me and my bags to the train station. His estimate of the cost for this 800 meter ride with 12 euro. I thought this sounded high and, at this point having no faith in the Front Desk, I asked the bellman for an estimate....8 euro. I then made a quick call to a friend in Rome who called a taxi privately for me....4 euro! Years ago when I first visited Rome I was advised to watch out for pickpockets at the major tourist sites....I never expected that I'd have to watch out for pickpockets at the Front Desk of the Aventino!
This could be a top notch hotel if management would focus on improving the service level of the Front Desk.
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