Karen

I have had a room booked at this Residenza for 6 months mostly becasue of all the raves about this budget priced, centrally located Residenza. I was pretty sure what I was going to get. A basic small room that two people can barely share, small bathroom, etc.Now after that thread last week on this place I am very upset with myself for picking something just because it's cheap People were complaining about the floors being very dusty, one person said her wet towels just left there and ther's some man who is up all hours of the night yelling.These are my choices as I see them at this late date. I leave Jun 3 for fifteen days, 4 of them in Rome.I can stay with this room and hope for the best. I can try to phone The Hotel Primavera which is in the same building. Praises are now being heard about this small hotel. In the Hello Italy book it was praised very highly. Or I can move up to a higher price range to something like the Genio- 206E Hotel Tiziano- 220E- Della Torre Argentina-202E Del Senato &218E. The charge for the Residenza San P is 100US or he has one large room #5 that I booked even though we only have two people so we could move around alittle. So it waas an extra ten dollars for the bigger room. I need some advice about what you would do at this late date. We leave in 13 days.Thanks Really!

Sue

Karen, I think maybe we all suffer from the pre-trip jitters at some point, and I think you've got them now.<BR><BR>A yelling man could surface in just about any hotel, and is probably a temporary thing. Re the housekeeping: The maid(s) might also be mad at their employer, again something that might be resolved by the time you get there.<BR><BR>If we were a couple of months out, I'd say change. But with only three weeks or so to go, I'd say go and experiment, see what happens. At least now your surprises will be pleasant. Take care, try not to let the pre-trip goblins get to you too much.

Laura

Karen, I'd say if you can get a rez at Primavera for not much more $, just go for that. But if you can't get that rez and RSP *assures you you'll get rm #5, you should be fine. The location really is great. Either way, have a fantastic trip!! <BR>-Laura-

xxxx

We stayed at SP in March for one week. The room was adequate, clean and comfortable. The bath was acceptable. Breakfast was enough to get you out the door. Location excellent. For the rest of our trip we stayed in hotels which cost twice as much but the rooms and baths were hardly much better.

Lori

Ditto xxxx above. Just remember Room 5 does face a noisy street. We thought it was fine.<BR>Lori

Kat

Thanks to all who responded with positive feedback. My family and I are staying at RSP in early July and I was beginning to wonder if I had made the right decision. After doing another "google" search on both the RSP and the Primavera, and reading your comments, I'm sticking with RSP. I figure we'll be dead on our feet anyway from all the sightseeing - we probably won't be awake long enough to notice the room.<BR><BR>By the way, while doing the search, I came up with a Serena being the owner / operator of both the RSP and Primavera. If it's the same person in both instances, does it really matter which one you pick?<BR><BR>Thanks again <BR>Kat

MK

We stayed at RSP for 3 nights at the end of April. There was no yelling man or wet towels. The man did smoke in the hallway, or at least his cigarettes did. We had rooms 2 & 5, the rooms seemed clean to us. The shower in 5 is small as are most that I'm familiar with in Italy. The price and location are great. <BR>The only issue we had was that they tried to get us to pay cash by telling us that the credit card machine was broken. We finally agreed to wait until the next day to see if it was working-it was.

BSB

We just returned from a 3 week Italy trip and spent a total of 7 nights at RSP. I've just scanned the recent posts regarding this hotel and was a bit surprised too because the previous posts were so favorable. However, we experienced the same problems as others at this Residenza. Our biggest complaint was that they continually left our room door unlocked and even wide open on a couple of occaisions. We had room #1 which has a small balcony that we thought was nice until we realized that it was from this balcony that all the hotel wash was hung. That, I think is the reason that the door was often open. We also encountered the "broken" credit card machine which was irritating because we had asked about using a cc when we made the reservation. The list of complaints goes on (plumbing, dirty towels, lightbulbs out) but we also have to say that it wasn't entirely bad. In retrospect, it still had a certain Italian charm to it. We will laugh remembering a very animated and intense mid-afternoon yelling session between Flourio and his apparent girl friend. After check-in with Serena, Flourio was the only employee we saw the entire stay and he was always very busy but also quite friendly and willing to help us with directions or a reservation. Bottom line is you just can't beat the price or the central location. IMHO if you are looking for a luxury experience this is not the right place but if you go prepared to be mildly inconvenienced for a great price and location then RSP is a fine place.

Capo

Hi Karen. No offense, but you strike me as a person that would be a lot more comfortable paying more for a hotel with the (presumed) assurance that you'll have a nicer place. <BR><BR>My girlfriend & I loved our stay at the Primavera but, at this point, after reading a lot of your posts and concerns, I would not recommend it to you. Instead, I'd recommend you get a hotel in a higher price range for your peace of mind.

ttt

Topping for Karen

Karen

Capo,I appreciate your advice, but I knew what I was gettting when I made the reservations 6 months ago. I read many, many posts on this site and was willing to believe this was a very simple,clean place with a great location. Only last week did I start to get worried. Simple, and basic are one thing, but dirty floors, dirty towels, people hollering all night, and leaving the door wide open are very different than that. I do not need luxury, but privacy and a clean room are not asking for much. I am going to e-mail Carlo with my concerns and make my decision then. Thanks for your help, but I do think you have characterized me wrong.

Laurina

Hi everybody! My husband and I are staying at the RSP from June 11-15. I made these reservations 6 months ago, as well, from favorable posts in this forum. Now, I too am apprehensive about staying here. Hopefully, we'll be too tired from sight seeing to notice the room. I'll post when we return.

Alan

To you folks that are a bit nervous about staying at RSP, please relax and continue to look forward to your trip to Rome. My wife and I just returned from two weeks in Italy and our last four nights were at the RSP.<BR>As you can imagine, the hotel is not <BR>luxurious, but its location is wonderful. We stayed in room #5 which is noisy, but gives you a great view of Roman street life all the way to Compo di Fiori. We found the room to be clean and the bathroom and shower to be adequate. I also<BR>noticed tobacco smoke filtering into our room and as we were leaving for dinner, I noticed the it was Florin doing the smoking. One great feature of the hotel is the antique elevator. While old and rickety, it is a beautiful sight at the end of a long tiring day. For the price, I think RSP is a great value and we would stay there again.

Ollie

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natasha

Karen,<BR>I just came back from my trip where I stayed at RSP for for nights (in room #2). <BR>I do not think that RSP is anything special. If going back to Rome I would definitely stay somewhere else.<BR>The location is good and the people that work there are friendly. <BR>However the walls are paper thin (and someone was always talking on the phone loudly and running down the halls/slamming doors in middle of the night, and I am not convinced it was a guest), the breakfast is horrible (but you aren't staying there for the breakfast anyway, right?). The quiet side of the street really isn't that quiet. We were three people and since on this site it was suggested to stay on the quiet side I ended up sleeping in a cot with an inadequatly thin mattress. Rooms 5 and 1 looked a lot nicer. I didn't have the towel issues.<BR>Since it was the frist place we stayed we thought it was okay. However every other hotel we stayed in was nicer. (We went to Sorrento, Siena, Florence, Venice and Varenna. Everything except Venice and Varenna were cheaper than RSP). <BR>It wouldn't say that it would ruin your trip to stay there. I was just disappointed.

m

Karen,<BR> My fiance and I stayed at RSP at the end of March. I booked it based on what people said here. I have mixed feelings. We stayed in Rm#5 as many people here did, and it does face the noisy street. The shower flooded on us too, and Flourio used the sheets on the bed to sop up the water...so make sure the drain works! Also, Flourio never seemed to have change so when we gave him a Euro travelers check for $100, he "never had change" and pocketed the one euro himself. Finally, "a virus" lost our hotel reservation for our last night, Good Friday, so they put us in an apartment by Campo di Fiori for the same price. The apartment was fine, except it overlooks an alley where the trash collectors meet each morning around 5:30am. So, needless to say they are noisy! Other than that, it was okay..the location is great too.

Capo

My apologies if you feel I mischaracterized you, Karen. I've no doubt, based on what some people have written, that the RSP is not for everyone. But plenty of other people seem to have had a relatively pleasant stay there so it's hard for me to believe it's that awful of a place. <BR><BR>We had originally called the RSP but they were booked so we found the Primavera instead. We couldn't have been more happy with it and would stay there again without any hesitation.

Lana

It sounds like this place is what we used to call "a place with local atmosphere". I am sure people on this board who are a little older remember traveling to Italy in the 50's and 60's when most of the pensiones were like this place. Smoking managers and all. We all seem to want sanitized, sparkling generic hotels nowdays. Just go and don't whine.

natasha

Lana,<BR>Just go and don't whine?? <BR>I think it would be better for people to make an informed desicion about the hotel. If that is the type of hotel they want then fine, but if it is not they can avoid it. After all why spend the money staying somewhere if you don't enjoy it.<BR>There is a difference between a charming hotel with character and a unclean, loud and/or crummy one and one that is sanitized, sparkling and generic. I am sure most people are opting for the charming hotel with character and just don't want to be disappointed. It's not like these are the same people looking for a Holiday Inn in europe.

Lana

Aren't you the same Natasha who is horrified with Naples?