Ancient Romance

This is a typical small Italian hotel in a historic building. It's a stone's throw away from the Vatican and is located 5 minutes walk from Ottavianio Metro station. So it is handy for visiting most of the historic places in Rome. Bed was comfortable and the bathroom was clean and workable. Staff here are very friendly and helpful. The other less complementary reviews on Trip Advisor are probably by people who aren't used to the Italian small, cozy apartment hotels. Ancient Romance simply offers great value for money close to one of the most historic, most recognizable places on Earth - the Vatican.

DO NOT STAY HERE!!!! THEY ARE VERY DECEITFUL!!! First off, they don't have someone there to help most of the day. The so called breakfast, is at a place down the street and around the corner. All you get is a coffee and some kind of pastry item. Not sure if it's any good as we didn't stay long enough to use our vouchers. Upon our arrival we were unable to get into the building as we had not been told there was a button we had to press to be let in and the hotel was calling themselves Ancient Romance on Booking.com when in fact it was Suite Rome. The address with the information of the floor and suite number were incorrect and we wasted time going up-and-down with all of our luggage trying to find it in 90+ degree temperatures. We had to make phone calls, which cost us money, just to find them. Once we did, we were taken to our suite which was NOT AT ALL what was pictured on the website, but we did not complain. The shower opening was so small that my husband had to push his way sideways into the shower and could barely move his arms. My daughter and I who are both petite also had a hard time fitting in the shower. The suite had a smell to it which we later realized was from someone cooking or frying in the apartment. We knew this because there was still grease splattered all over the back splash and the front of the stove which had not been cleaned properly. When we came back from dinner we noticed that it was very warm in the rooms even though we had left the AC running with the doors closed. We spent the entire night uncomfortable and sweaty as the temperature never dropped below 78. The beds were very uncomfortable. If I tried to sleep on my side it felt like someone was poking my ribs! The next day we sent an email letting them know that the AC was not working properly and they responded saying they checked it and nobody else had complained and there was nothing wrong with the air conditioning. When we got back later that evening on the 2nd day it was still very warm in the rooms so we packed our bags and went to another Hotel as we could not spend another night sweating in the heat again. The next morning we came back to speak to the manager to let him know we had checked out and wanted to pay for 2 nights. The lady who cleans was the only one there and we were told the property manager would not be there till late in the afternoon. We could not come back at that time due to a scheduled tour. We went back again the next day and were told once again that Antonio would not be there until the afternoon. We called later in the afternoon and Michael told us that we were trying not to pay for our Room and that they could've put us in another Room. We were told that Antonio was the property manager. He was present at the time so we stopped what we were doing and went back to the apartment once again and spoke with Antonio. He agreed to charge us only for the 2 nights, so we paid for the 2 nights and we left. Later that day we looked on our credit card account and noticed that we had 2 other transactions from them that we had not agreed to or been notified about. We contacted booking.com and they tried to speak to them again about the charges and Michael once again said they refused and we would be charged for the full nights. He told booking that he was the property manager. So at this point we still don't know who the actual property manager was and we feel we had been deceived from the beginning.

Our stay here was not enjoyable. Here are some pros and cons to help you: Pros: -Close to Vatican and metro and many restaurants -Room is cleaned every day by a kind woman -Breakfast is at a local cafe which offers great coffee and croissants and good wifi -Good AC in the room Cons: -You might not know where to go when you arrive (we rang the bell many times and waited a long time to finally get into our room) -The shower is way too small and it had mold on the walls and door -The showerhead does work well -There is mold in the fridge -You might find small bugs in the room -Wifi is sporadic Please find a nice air bnb in Rome! You will have a much better experience. Good luck!