I think my title says it all. Ladies and Gentlemen when reading reviews please notice the city/country of the other reviewers. It really helps to know the culture and preferences of the European travelers versus American travelers. I can tell you that size and amenities of the hotels do mean much more to Americans than to the Europeans.
With this preambule let me begin. Our trip to Italy started on May 18, 2009 when we landed in Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport in Rome. Since I have been in charge of booking hotels for us and have used "en venere.com" for all reservations I have managed to book the limo from the airport to the hotel. I'm far from novice in international travel and the cost of the limo was the same as the cost of the regular taxi. Since I hadn't been in Italy in 20 years and I was seeng Rome from completely different perspective. Yes, Rome itself is Eternal and it will take take more than mere 20 years to change anything (except the prices). To make long story short we arrived at Hotel Centrale. Don't try to find it on Google Street View since via Laurina is so narrow that Google van probably couldn't make it through the street. The hotel from outside looked just like another store front. We were greated very warmly by the front desk clerk who told us that our room was ready and we could go upstairs. Here came the culture shock!!! I have forgotten how small the staircases were in Italy an since this building was converted from a regular appartment building it had the same convenient staircase that was considered to be adeqate in Roman times but a little to narrow and steep for a modern man. Alas, thank all the Roman Gods they managed to build an elevator inside the staicase shaft. The elevator, when I managed to fit myself and one of our medium size suitcases and manually close both the outside door and the interior (WOODEN) doors, took me to th 3rd floor where our room was located. From the hallway the door to the rom looked wide and substantial, and that was the only normal size feature in the otherwise most tiny and crammed up room I have ever set my foot in. If you can imagine the room that requires you to wait for your partner to sit on the bed so you can safely pass to the other side of the room without knocking down the chair you will get an idea. Now for the best of the best!!!! The bathroom!!! When I have opened the white bi-fold door to try and stow suitcase in the closet I discovered that I am looking at the bathroom sink and seeing my own reflection in the vanity mirror. You can imagine my reflection and especially amazement when I have strarted to take it all in. Imagine wall closet running alongside the whole length of the room. Now try to fit the toilet bowl, the bidet, the bathroom sink and the shower stall into a space 10 feet long by 3 feet wide and you will understand my reflection. Yes indeed the for the whole lenth of stay the size of the bathroom was the source of our private jokes. In order for one of us to get to the sink the door had to be open otherwise you were unable to fit in the space in front of it. All in all, I think it's the cultural shock that did it for us. We and I mean us - Americans are spoled by the amenities and comforts of our hotel chains and fortunately for us we can stay in hotels designed for our tastes and needs.