Its been more than a year since my mother and I stayed at Delia - and it still rates as one of the worst stays I have ever had (and paid for!).
Firstly, access to the hotel is bizarre - you feel as if the booking is a con, and there was nobody there on arrival - not really the best of starts in Rome during the heat of the Summer. Also, we share the bewilderment of fellow guests who were lumbered with an extraordinary number, and variety of keys. It was Fort Knox - and its a bit hard to see why.
The place itself is very clean - that was really the one saving grace. We were moved one day in (into a nicer room, granted) but it felt more like we had been incarcerated in a minimum security prison rather than experiencing the charm of a Roman B&B. The Italian continental breakfast - something we had been looking forward to (and hence the reason we booked a B&B) went from poor to just plain peculiar. The 'pantry' area (with tea and coffee) was constantly locked, and the food was rationed - there is no other word for it. We started with pastries - stale and inedible - and the coffee was cold and tasteless. So we tried the tea and cereal. This again was cold (we think it was microwaved) and the cereal came in a glass. No spoon. No milk. One of the more amusing episodes was seeing a fellow guest sneaking around the foyer with his little glass of cereal, fruitlessly searching for help. We could not assist in his quest for a spoon and some milk.
We slept well despite the air conditioning not working (and being charged for this) and despite the fact after difficult days in the peak of the tourist season in Rome, we would feel depressed returning to Delia after a long, hot day. Oh, the bathrooms also smelt (old pipes I guess).
Why didn't we move may you ask - well, we went to Rome during the peak time, and there literally was no where else to go.
The final morning was taxing - difficult to pay - and they were insisting we make a comment in their guest book - we could win another week's stay! I thought this was a joke.. and resolved to write an entry in trip advisor. It has taken me this long to feel calm enough to do so. As for the complementary comments - I am truly puzzled. Perhaps we were on a version of Italian Candid Camera that week, and were not told it was a gag.
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