April 24 2008
My wife and i have just returned fom Rome after a 4 day city break staying at the San Marco Hotel.
First lets get the GOOD POINTS out of the way
1 The Bedrooms and bathroom are VERY Clean with fresh towels every day
2 The hotel is in a very GOOD position 500 meters from Termini station and Metro etc
3 Plenty of restaurants very close with reasonable prices
4 Reception staff friendly and helpfull

THATS IT

BAD POINTS

1 THE WALLS ARE PAPER THIN you can hear EVERYTHING from snoring to midnight abloutions doors banging,draws slamming,toilet flushes from 3 rooms down the corridor
TAKE YOUR EAR PLUGS for a good nights sleep

2 BREAKFAST now here is a different episode compleatly
Lots of previous reviewers stated what a great breakfast it was
WRONG there are 2 RUDE staff that run the Breakfast struggle
Cerial bowls run out so you have to WAIT until the female member of staff has snapped at you WAIT Im Cleaning them oops sorry for asking then Cutlery that is left on your table is picked up and placed directly back in the basket for the next guest to use WITHOUT being WASHED you have to get your own tes and coffe for the machine which is foul tasting.The fruit juice is a DEFINATE NO NO it tastes like diluted anti freeze thats if you can get some before the waiter BARKS Therez a no a more ees run out. The scrambled egss are made from POWDER as in world war 2 The cutlery to the eggs are NEVER changed
I could go on even more about the BAD hygene practices in this breakfast room but i think you have probably got the gist of it by now My wife and i are extensive travellers but i have never seen any food practices like this beforein any of the hotels or countries we have stayed in

Any way we had a great time in Rome seeing all the sights etcand some Great FOOD OUTSIDE OF THE HOTEL

CC Apri 2008

I took my 77 year old Mother to Rome to see the Vatican & St Peters Basilica. I booked the rooms through Expedia, requesting a smoking room for my Mother as she is a heavy smoker. Unfortunately it is a non smoking hotel (not made clear on the Expedia website), but after emailing the management , they said that they would provide a room with a balcony.
On arrival the lift was 'broken'. This caused panic in me as Mother can hardly walk through the longterm effects of smoking, so couldn't climb stairs at all. Thankfully the 'bellboy' operated the lift for my elderly mother (the inner door would not close automatically so they stopped most people using it unless supervised) and my son and I walked up the stairs. They could not have been more helpful or politeand the lift was repaired quite quickly.
Our rooms were clean and well sized and the balconies were a bonus, my Mother really appreciating the opportunity to smoke but complying with the non-smoking rule indoors.
On our first night I asked the Receptionist (a non smiling gent but very helpful) to recommend somewhere to eat and he gave me a business card for a pizzeria in the next road which also gave 10% off the total bill.
The pizzeria staff were friendly and welcoming and lots of locals were eating there which is always a good sign, we certainly enjoyed the food and the atmosphere.
The hotel is close enough to Termini to walk to, but far enough away to feel safe and in a relatively quiet street.
The breakfast was also generous and filling with a wider choice than the average continental breakfast.
If I return to Rome I will ensure I stay at this hotel and would certainly recommend it to family and friends

Went to Rome with my Girlfriend for a long romantic weekend. We were not disappointed with either the Hotel or Rome and would highly recommend both!

Easy Jet Flights - Nothing to exciting to tell you about - About a 2 hour flight from Stansted to Rome Ciampino Airport (the other airport is called Fiumicino, don’t get them confused!)

Transfer from Airport to Hotel - We decided to grab a Taxi to the hotel as the queue for the Bus was long. Taxi is a good choice, they are legally not allowed to charge you more than €30 for any destination in Rome city centre. Our fare cost €28 to the hotel and took less than 30 mins, even in Rome traffic.
(If you ask the hotel to book you a taxi, they will book you their own private car at €50, make sure you ask for a White taxi for when you leave the hotel - no need to book on your way to Rome, Taxi rank was full on arrival)

Hotel - My girlfriend cancelled our first choice hotel after finding San Marco on the web at a great price. The price we paid was incl Breakfast, 3 nights and 4 days. Worked out to be just over £60 each in total. Hotel Reception was clean and we were met by the owner who spoke excellent English, all other staff also spoke excellent English and were always happy to help and answer questions. Hotel Lobby is small but with a nice bar which serves drinks 24 hrs. They also have a TV room which looked nice but we never used it. We were on the 6th floor in a corner room, 620. not sure if this made any difference compared to the other rooms, but our room was very big. Although Bed was two large singles pushed together, the bed was very comfortable. TV with good selection of films if you wanted to pay for it. Nice sofa and table in corner to use if needed. Bathroom was big and very clean, tiled floor with drainage so you don't have to worry about drying off in the shower - It looked brand new.
Views from the room are what you expect in a city.
Pls note - Floor 2 is being refurbished, although work only takes place Mon-Fri - Also 7th floor was being built on, but this did not ruin our stay.
Breakfast - Was excellent, huge choice of food from fruit, toast, eggs and cakes, all served fresh from 7am till 11am.
Eating out - Do try the local restaurants around the block from the hotel, great food and 10% discount if you ask for a card from reception. Average price we paid each night was €30. Watch out when going out for Lunch, you will probably be in a tourist area and the bills can be very high, we were charged €50 for a small lunch on our first day, we didn’t make that mistake again and made sure we went off the main roads to find cheaper establishments.

Location - Hotel is a good 30 mins walk to the Coliseum or Trevi Fountain. The train station is 5 minutes away and you will find the Metro here which will take you across Rome for €12 each for a 3 days pass. You will need to jump on the tube to go to the Vatican unless you enjoy a long walk. Great value for money. Print off a tube map before you go as some maps in Rome did not have these on them. The Map given out in the hotel Lobby is very good and easy to understand.

Sight seeing TIPS - I would recommend you book your entrance fees before you go for both the Coliseum and Vatican. My girlfriend booked ours for the Coliseum and the Vatican. Because we pre-booked, we did not have to join the long queues, it costs a little extra but well worth it, the queues were huge. We turned up at the Vatican, a Tour guide met us, took us pass the queue and then kindly told us where everything was, then left us to it.
3 full days was just right to see everything in Rome, although your legs will feel very well used!

Safety - I could not of felt safer in Rome, Police were on every other street corner. Hotel has the German Embassy down the road so we got 24hr armed police walking near by, which made you feel very safe walking around at night near to the hotel. Tubes were also well staffed and although you get the odd beggars selling Roses etc, they didn’t bother you too much, a quick NO and they walk away.

If we went back to Rome, then I would be happy to stay in Sam Marc again, Staff were friendly, hotel was clean, location was excellent, this was Great Value for Money!

Feel free to ask any questions.

Thanks Chrissy for taking me! I owe you!! x

The S.Marco is only around seven minutes away from the station and the bus stop where you get off the Terravision bus if you use it from Ciampino airport as we did. The price was reasonable, the hotel is a small one and there are a few restuarants nearby , ideal for having a relaxing meal after an exhasting days sightseeing

On arrival we were allocated our room by a friendly receptionist. The room was very clean and although looked out to buildings at the back, was quiet and a view was not important to us as we were out all the time.

The bathroom was all new and the shower was lovely.

Fro breakfast there was a good deal of choice of breads,pastries, scrambled eggs etc.

We walked almost everywhere, apart from when we went on an open topped bus tour on the first day which gave us our bearings. We picked this up from the Termini station, it was a good way to see everything.

Rome is an amazing city, there is a historical building or monument everywhere you look. The highlight for us was seeing the Pope from five feet away, when we went to St Peters Basilica and he was conducting a Mass there.