Hi,

The hotel itself is nice, can't really complain about it. The one thing I would say is that if you are staying here to be close to the airport in my opinion it would be better to stay at the airport. It was a $60 euro cab fare from the train station from Rome to the hotel and then the hotel charges $40 euro for the 10 minute drive to the airport.

We were leaving for the north and on to France and Spain and chose this hotel due to its proximity to Rome airport - we were not disappointed. We picked up our hire car fron the airport after a few days in Rome and were in our hotel room within an hour.

The hotel has been extensively refurbished, the best rooms are on the upper floors overlooking the beach. The rooms themselves are very stylish and a cut above the average for Europe. The hotel has a lift and is air conditioned.

The surrounding suburb is not the most aesthetically pleasing but the hotel itself is better than three star, there is guest parking and the staff are first class. Breakfast is the ueual European mix, the breakfast room is very light, open and friendly.

We happened to be there on a holiday and the beach was packed - it made for a great spectacle.

There is a marina within 5 minutes walk with plenty of restaurants and shops. The nearby shops and supermarkets are convenient and the town centre, near the railway station and church is quaint.

Overall a very satisfying and restful stay.

We stayed one night after departing a 12 day cruise and were flying out the next day. After reading reviews of hotels by the airport we chose the Aran Blu. We were looking to just relax as it was beach front with dining choices. That is all we were looking for and were not disappointed. They have units with sea views in the front and rear view facing low rise residential apartment buildings. We reserved the sea view paying $20-30 more and it was worth it. We used Travelocity and payed $231with all taxes/fees included for "Standard Marine double with Sea View and Direkt am Wasser. Buffet Breakfast (2 Adults)" They were the only ocean front hotel in this residential area. The next ocean front hotel appeared 3 km/1.5 mi south. Directly across from the hotel is Roma Porto Marina to the right and a 3-4km/2-3 mile concrete beach front promenade to the left. The dark brown sandy narrow beach in front of the hotel is crescent shaped and is approximately 50 feet deep. There rocks spread out in the water and there is a shallow rock shoal 100 feet out extending up the length of the beach. As you walk up the promenade the beach widens to accomodate numerous beach/cabana clubs. Each culb has umbrellas and chairs in their repective club colors. A 150 foot concrete pier is approximately 3 km/1 mi. walk up the promenade. Walking out to the end of the pier reveals the water looks waist high out to the rocky shoal with sandy bottom. Looking both north and south of the pier one can see the numerous beach clubs and their colorful umbrellas. The avenue opposite the pier has stores, resturaunts, pizzerias. We purchased some cheese and crackers which we had on our oceanfront terrace with a bottle of Ruffino. The marina to the right of the hotel has several seafood resturaunts spread on the water side of the marina's promenade. Opposite them is a string of stores, shops, pizzerias that have a roofed`corridor to walk under. The pizzerias have chairs and tables to sit at on the promenade. The hotel has a free continental breakfast and served seafood dinner during our stay. We chose to eat dinner out as there was a small seminar in the hotels first floor meeting room and did not want to eat in a fairly full resturaunt after getting off of a cruise ship. The rooms are as described in the previous reviews. They include a safe, tv and small desk where you can enjoy hard wired internet access for 2 Euros for 1 hour, 5 Euros for 24 hours. They have wifi access as part of this purchase plan on the first floor. They serve breakfast starting at 7a.m. We checked out of the hotel at 7:10a.m. and were at our departure gate at 7:50a.m. The cab ride was 10 minutes. Throughout our trip we made all of our transfer reservations thru Rome Cabs (romecabs@yahoo.com - Stefano Costantini) which we discovered in these reviews. We were extremely satisfied with their service. They provided cars or vans and all drivers were early and held signs to easily identify them. We used them from the airport to Rome, Rome to Citivitavecchia, Citivitavecchia to the Aran Blu in Lido di Ostiga, and finally from the hotel to the airport. From Civitivecchia to the hotel in Lido di Ostiga was 130 euro. The cruise line wanted $150 for a bus shuttle to the airport upon which you would have to transfer your luggage to a taxi, at least 40 euro, to the hotel. Why bother, plus you get to the hotel earlier. They said check in is usually 4p.m. but they made a room available for us by 10:45 a.m. They will hold your luggage if you have to wait and you can walk around and explore the area while you are waiting. Fellow cruisers staying one extra day were at the airport hotels without these beach front options. Your choice: Beach or airport?

The Aran Blu is ultra-modern and stylish. It's clean, comfortable, and even includes garage parking. Some rooms have balconies overlooking the beach--with Philip Stark lucite chairs. Some reviewers have been disappointed, but if you know what to expect, Lido di Ostia can be a perfect place to stay if you have an early flight home. The town is a mostly working-class suburb of Rome. You won't find a lot of tourists, which can be a good thing. There's a nice paved promenade along the beach, although the beach itself isn't as clean as you might want. Apparently, there is a night life scene & lots of people from Rome hit the clubs here on the weekend. There is direct train service to Rome for just 1 euro, so you can make your last night special with dinner and a last look at the monuments at night.