Palazzo Del Duca

DO NOT BOOK THE PALAZZO DEL DUCA! And before I begin my review I hope the owners can refrain from leaving the snarky and sarcastic responses they have written to other reviews of their property… In our correspondence with the manager regarding our issues with the apartment, they stated “To be honest, our suite was appreciated by all guests”. Have you read the reviews? First of all, the entry into the apartment was ridiculously complicated. The App did not work to open the doors. Several times, we had to wait outside the building for someone to come out, so we could enter. The apartment was very badly maintained, and the problems could have been so easily rectified. For starters, it was dirty! There were dirty dishes on the balcony and a pile of cigarette butts in the flower box. A nice touch. The bedspread had stains, the sheets didn’t fit the mattress. The two pillows provided were old and lumpy. The sofa had stains, the kitchen was dirty and rusty, with nothing to tidy with, not even a roll of paper towels. In a country with superb wines, there were no wine glasses or wine opener. The coffee machine was filthy. Let’s move on to the bathroom. The towels were old and threadbare. No bathmat. The drain in the shower was clogged so when showering, we got to stand in dirty water, which was a delight. The toilet ran constantly. There were no decent products provided. The bathroom door handle was falling off. There were burned out light bulbs throughout the apartment, and exposed electrical wires. We were so looking forward to staying at Palazzo del Duca, and were incredibly disappointed. The condition of this rental was totally unsatisfactory. We have traveled extensively throughout Italy, and this was, by far, the worst guesthouse at which we have stayed.

entrance to the apartment is difficult to find because they don’t have a sign, just a small name by doorbell among other doorbells. check in time is promptly 2:00pm, do not arrive before (learned from experience…). no one will be there. we were stuck outside in the pouring rain with luggage because they will not answer phones or the door bell. I literally had to call booking.com and ask for help contacting the property. And they told me just to “leave my bags outside” wtf…. Once we were in the room, the water did not work. I could not shower, wash my face, brush my teeth or use the toilet. We had 3 people in the room and no one could use water. I let the guys know via WhatsApp/booking messenger we needed our water fixed. he told me how to go upstairs and fix it (apparently this happens if the power goes out? which we never had the power go out….). I told him that my group had appointments all day, needed showers after traveling and that it is NOT my responsibility to fix the water situation. He ended up fixing it, but we didn’t have water for about 36 hours. had to brush teeth with water bottles….. Our bed leg was also broken making the bed unstable. They held the bed leg up with an old folded up map of Rome. The key situation is a mess, you get about 5 different keys you have to use and it’s confusing. I never got any sort of reimbursement or compensation. The only good thing is the location.

We stayed here for the first leg of our honeymoon in Italy. I was so excited that we were going to stay in a historic B&B in the middle of Rome, only to find an Airbnb room in an old apartment. The building was indeed historic and they definitely tried to decorate in a cool way. But at the end of the day, we were basically sharing an apartment with several strangers. We arrived in Rome early morning but check-in wasn't until late afternoon (basic Airbnb rules). There was no place where we could leave our luggage. We had to wait at a cafe nearby until the neighborhood luggage storage opened. Which cost 10 Euros at check in and check out because they also wouldn't allow us to keep our luggage at the apartment for a couple of hours after checkout time. There was no "breakfast" as part of the B&B title. The bathroom constantly smelled like sewage. The shower was so small, you couldn't move your arms. Not to mention it was constantly clogged. We didn't have enough toiletries to get us through our stay. Pillows were ridiculously uncomfortable. And our room had a mysterious locked door that we shared with the room next door. We didn't have a key to it or a way to make sure it wasn't unlockable from the other side. The entrance to the apartment was through 4 locked doors and gates. It was dark and creepy. On our last day there, we found out that people had been leaving the back gate open. So anyone could've wandered into the dark hall and waited for someone to walk in at night. So despite the amazing location and the promise of experiencing history first hand, I would not go back here.