We stayed at the Romanico Palace in May 2009(21st-26th). If I could go back in time I would have stayed somewhere else.
I read every single review on this hotel before we left for our trip to Rome. I was so worried as there seemed to be so many negative reviews and only a few good ones. I was hopeful that the people who had good experiences were right and that would be our experience. It was not. We stayed 6 nights at this hotel and I cannot emphasize strongly enough that you should find somewhere else to stay.
We arrived and were told that the hotel management had made a mistake and overbooked and we would be taken to another hotel for the night. I objected and explained that we had plans for the next day, we are in a strange city and its not our fault that they overbooked. However, I explained that we will go if there is no room, there is no room. I requested to speak to the manager the next day because I was not happy about having to go to another hotel. The front desk clerk took a phone call and when he was done said, "ok, you can stay here then". So we followed the bellman through the hotel, down some steps, up some steps, past another front desk?? We got settled and figured out that we were not in the Romanico Palace. We went back and asked why they put us in the neighboring hotel? The Hotel Veneto that is next door? The front desk clerk (Johnnie) was very apologetic. He said it was all he could do for the night and he was so sorry, he would send us some wine and in the morning they would sort it all out. Seemed reasonable.
In the morning we went to the front desk to get switched out of the other hotel and the front desk clerk told us that we did not need to be moved because its basically the same hotel. I objected and asked to speak to the manager and was told by the desk clerk (Christoph I believe his name was) that he was the manager and there was no one else to talk to. This guy was one of the rudest non-customer service oriented people I have ever come across. Plus he thought we were stupid. He was not willing to talk to us about it anymore. So we went on the internet, did some research, realized it was clearly not the same hotel, went back and explained that the hotels are not the same. They have different rates etc and we would like to stay in the hotel we booked. He finally said that we could see a room in the Romanico and if we still wanted to move we could or we could stay where we are. The bellman showed us a room which could have been equivalent to a motel room you would find on the side of a highway. In fact I've stayed in nicer motel rooms. Room 411. We were told that we could have this room if we wanted to stay at the Romanico Palace. If we wanted to stay?? We booked this hotel.
Well we did not see any other option. As the room at the other hotel was small, noisy and on the second floor and we did not feel that safe. We took the room at the Romanico and decided that we would just keep our heads down and mouths shut and hopefully the next 5 nights would go by quickly.
Did I mention that the hotel room walls had stains on them. The pictures of the rooms on the website did not look like this room.
Believe me I am less upset about the room then the customer service.
The roof top terrace was nice - true. Iilaria was super kind, helpful-true.
The front desk man Johnnie was great - true.
However, it was not enough to make up for the initial experience and the attitude of the "manager", the run around or the crappy room.
The roof top terrace closed at 9:30 pm and the cold, boring lobby lounge was the only place to go at that point. Why?
I would guess that they lose hundreds of euros a night by doing that. We watched them turn off the music and turn away patron after patron each night. The terrace is the only thing you have going for you why would you turn people away from being there??
I agree with the person that wrote the last review. The serving staff were rude and a little creepy.
I'm happy that some of the people who have posted reviews seemed to have had a great experience. We did not.
Also, "overbooking" seems to be their "thing". We saw so many couples being moved to another hotel by taxi or put in the "Veneto" next door day after day. Its not a one shot mistake for them its a "who's paying more money to stay here thing".
One more thing, They do not have an iron in the room. I read a review about that and thought that they would have fixed it. No, they did not. If you need to take the wrinkles out of a shirt then you can pay 7 Euros and send it to be cleaned and pressed by the hotel.
We thought about buying an iron and donating it to the hotel but; didn't want to help them out in anyway.
Last, you do not need to respond to my review and say you are sorry. You had the chance to make it up to me when I was right there in your hotel and you didn't. In fact you treated us like we were stupid. However, you had no problem taking our money.
If I am ever in Rome again I will not be anywhere near your hotel.
