We caught a train from Florence to Rome (which was amazingly easy!) and then a taxi from the train station to the hotel. (This was about EUR 30 incl tip.) The taxi couldn't drive straight up to the hotel so we had a short walk dragging cases over the cobbles.
Despite having confirmed our arrival time with the hotel, the hotel was locked with no information and nowhere to wait. After 15 minutes of ringing the buzzer, calling the hotel on our mobiles and knocking loudly, a lady from a nearby shop came out to see if she could help. She said that they may have been at lunch (this was about 2pm) and that we should try again in an hour. We asked if there was anywhere she could recommend for lunch while we waited and she suggested a local pizzeria. We dragged our cases to the restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal.
When we returned, we were buzzed in. There was no lift, so my husband went up to check-in whilst I waited with the cases. We were told that the hotel has three buildings and we had been assigned rooms elsewhere. This was completely unexpected and concerning as the location had been a major factor in choosing the hotel.
The receptionist called us a taxi and asked us to pay and get a receipt. We could then claim the money back from the reception at the other building.
Our concern mounted as the taxi made its way through the back streets. The taxi driver couldn't find the building and ended up calling the hotel for us. A man came out of a brown wooded door set into a wall and told us that this was the hotel. We paid the taxi (10 euros) and the man took the receipt. He picked up one of the cases and led the way. We walked through into a courtyard filled with bags of cement, wooden posts and other building materials. There were two builders laying tiles on the floor which we had to step round, carrying our cases. There were several flights of stairs with uneven sloping paths. We would our way round the back of the other buildings and down into a basement. The man then said that he didn't have the cash to reimburse us fully (only 4 euros), but would give us the rest later in our stay.
The up-side of the building work (if there is one) is that our room was newly decorated. However it was a very odd shape with the bed taking up most of the room. There was nowhere to put the empty cases and the furniture was all flat packed Ikea. There was a fridge, but no tea making facilities. Unlike the other review though, the air-conditioning did work. The bathroom was also new, but the bath was wedged in between two walls with access only at the narrow end. This made for some interesting manoeuvres! We considered moving, but as it was now 5pm, we were reluctant.
The walls were extremely thin and you could hear every movement elsewhere in the hotel. There was a family home above the hotel with a small child that had two or three temper tantrums a day. We were woken every morning by the sound of plates and cups from the breakfast which was served in the hallway. The breakfast was pretty poor with little choice although the lady serving it was lovely.
The only window in the room looked out directly onto the outside staircase and we had to keep the shutters closed all the time for privacy.
To begin with, we were not particularly enamoured with the location. Having to walk up the Spanish steps every day was a bit daunting after sight seeing. However, once we discovered the Roman underground we began to make use of the station which was 5 minutes from the hotel. This also had a lift which meant we could avoid the steps which were very busy and crammed with persistent flower sellers.
We tried orientating ourselves by taking a sight-seeing bus, but the traffic in Rome is so bad, and the commentary so poor, that this was a waste of time. (The trip on the boat wasn't really worth it either.)
However, once we were out of the hotel, we really enjoyed our stay in Rome. There was so much to see and do in glorious sunshine. We found some lovely places to eat and met some very friendly locals.
When it was time to leave, we asked about paying for a late check out. The hotel didn't offer any such facilities and would only keep our bags until 1pm. We were never reimbursed for the original taxi fare.
Overall, the location was probably pretty good. But the state of the hotel and the cheap renovations severely impacted our stay. If the hotel had warned us about the change of location and there was more information on their website, our expectations would have been better managed. We would love to return to Rome one day, but we would never stay here again. Based on our experience and those of the other guests we spoke to, we would not recommend this hotel.
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