Vera

I thought I had found a good bargain hotel in Rome, based on Lonely Planet reviews and trip advisor reports. Now I am warned by Fodorites that the reviews may be phony and the owner has disrupted Fodor's boards in past. (Can't find the evidence because it has been wiped clean--apparently contentious boards removed).
I'm still confused about 58 Via Cavour aka 58 Le Real Deluxe. Although some here accuse them of changing names as though they were hiding something, both names are visible on the web site, and I saw them right away. So although it was confusing to have two names, I just figured one was their "Italian" name and the other "English". If they are trying a disguise they aren't doing a very good job.
Also, I have previously found Lonely Planet to be pretty reliable. AND, many people here recommend Eurocheapo as a good, honest, resource and the editor's review of B & B 58 di Via Cavour says, "Beautifully renovated and furnished with brand new beds and dressers, high ceilings, soundproofed windows, framed artwork, spic-and-span baths, air conditioning, air purifiers."

So where's the beef?
I tried to find the past threads on Fodors, but the ones I found were diatribes against the owner rather than comments by people who had stayed (or even claimed to have stayed) at the b & b.
I would appreciate first-hand experience about the hotel itself, not just information about the veracity of the owner's dealings with Trip Advisor. (Is it possible the property has CHANGED owners and recently been rehabbed?)
I'm not expecting a first class hotel (although the suite, which is priced quite a bit higher than the ordinary room, does sound pretty classy)But does anybody have experience with the hotel that indicates that I should be cautious--cleanliness, safety issues, etc.?
Thanks for helping me clear this up--although these discussions have made me cautious about trusting ANYBODY!
Vera

francophile03

I recall when the owner of the formerly named hotel, 58 Via Cavour came here to tout his hotel. It was obvious he was the owner as there were numerous, similar glowing posts at Trip Advisor also.

Yes, I guess there could have been a change in ownership, but what is it you need from us? It appears that you are set on staying there and the only way to find out for sure if the hotel is as excellent as you feel is to give it a try.

I would not rely on any guide as the absolute truth. Frommers, for example, has the same hotel recommendations and comments that have been the same for years. But if you check the comments at Trip Advisor for the same hotels not all of the hotels rated favorably as Frommers suggests. So I wouldn't trust 100% anything that's recommended in Lonely Planet.

Vera

No, I am not set on staying there no matter what. And I don't KNOW if it is excellent. In my previous post I was just quoting other reports. I am very confused by the dissension. I'm looking for some first-hand information about the facility instead of about the owner. Granted, he certainly must be very defensive, given his many responses on Trip Advisor. And apparently he takes self-promotion much too far. But I want to know about the B & B--not the owner.
The negative reports on Trip Advisor focus on poor breakfast and staff not being around. The only negatives I would be seriously concerned about are those of reservations being summarily cancelled. Has anyone stayed there who can tell me--is it clean? is it shabby? is it unsafe? is it uncomfortable?
Please don't assume I'm defending 58--I'm just trying to figure it out.
Vera

worldinabag

Hi Vera

Yes this hotel seems to be rather topical in this forum. For what it's worth I haven't stayed there but their correspondence I have received from them has been polite and amiable. If you do stay there it would be great if you posted a trip report on Fodors including a review of the hotel. A review on Trip Advisors would be great too.

Thanks for that.

JJBhoy

Vera,

I couldn't make up my mind whether or not to add to this thread as I know that you're looking for people with direct personal experience of "58" & I have never even been to Rome let alone the actual property.

For what it's worth, however, I do recall the "contentious" posts & if my memory serves me right they all followed a similar pattern. The original poster would start off by badmouthing various other hotels in the area & then say that 58 was a much better choice. When Fodorites would point out that the poster was clearly connected with the 58 he would repost with personal & abusive remarks towards them. I think it was these offensive remarks which got the threads closed down as they were pretty hysterical (and when I say "hysterical" I don't mean "funny&quot.

It would be dishonest of me to claim any personal knowledge of 58 but, if it is still under the same ownership, I wouldn't go anywhere near it based on his previous behaviour.

Hope this helps, although I suspect it may have just confused you all the more.

Jim

Tulips

I was thinking the same thing Jim. I remember those posts, and the person arguing in favour of that hotel became very offensive. In these cases, I side with the long-term and frequent poster on this board, rather than with someone whose only post was about this hotel. If you doubt a report on Fodor's, it makes sense to check what else has been posted by that person.

JJBhoy

Hi Tulips,

It was only when I read your post that I remembered the "owner of 58" singled out one particular Fodorite for some especially nasty abuse. Can't remember who the Fodorite was now but she seemed to be a very reasonable person who didn't deserve the treatment she received.

Best wishes,

Jim

WillTravel

The unjustly and irrationally attacked person was TexasAggie. Personally, I wouldn't want to stay at a place where the owner demonstrated such vituperation.

ParadiseLost

I do remember an actual honest review posted here.

IIRC It was a woman and one morning (breakfast?) they asked her if she would consider moving to their sister hotel due to an overbooking perhaps?

Anyway she had spent a night or nights in the hotel and still had days left on her reservation.

She told them she would think about it and left for her day's sightseeing.

When she returned they had packed her suitcases and moved them to their sister hotel!

I recall she was not pleased . Regards, Walter

Tess_Durberville

66 Imperial vs 58 Le Real de luxe B&B in Rome --
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34552242

Above is a thread from last year which discusses the hubbub around "58 - whatever". IMHO, there are many other options for accommadations, why not select a place that consistently get positive reviews.

Vera

There are reports on Trip Advisor about somebody getting moved. Actually there were a spate of such reports all about the same time, and then none since.
I noticed the Eurocheapo review that I mentioned in my first post was posted verbatim as if it were a post from a user of trip advisor and I wrote to trip advisor and told them about it. I'm sorry that the man got abusive with anybody on Fodors. He certainly is ham-handed in his promotional efforts, isn't he?
I still would rather deal with information about the hotel, such as moving somebody who did not want to be moved. That is certainly a red flag.
Anybody else been there?
Vera

francophile03

Vera, are there any other hotels that you're interested in? Rome has many nicer hotels within the same budget, are located in other nice locations, and are well-regarded all around. I think if you have to investigate this hotel thoroughly then perhaps you should look elsewhere. If you are set on staying at this hotel only then you need to go with an open mind and see for yourself how it is.

Lily

If you want to stay on Via Cavour, then try the Nicholas Bed and Breakfast. We stayed there last year for 120 Euros and throughly enjoyed it. The reviews for this B&B on tripadvisor are accurate.

Vera

Nicolas Inn is booked. Francophile, I've been looking at dozens of hotels and did not find many in May that were available at 135 Euro for a double, in a decent location, with reviews saying they are clean, etc. I have just switched my reservation to Hotel Sonya. Now please don't someboy tell me that its a dud!!!

eldon_79

It's interesting to note that worldinabag is affiliated with a website by the same name. This website promotes various European hotels including 58 Via Cavour which it's still called on that website. Thus, it's no surprise he is promoting this hotel.

tedgale

The 58 via Cavour exchanges were hilarious. The owner (or his tout) was a voluble, splenetic psychopath.

I recall one set of posts that ended with Latin insults.

You know the stuff I mean -- the old "Quis requieris? -- Nomine mutato, de te fabula narratur" sort of put-down.

I'd NEVER stay in so suspect a place!

worldinabag

Eldon that's unfair. I wasn't promoting the B&B. I was recounting my limited dealings with them which have been positive. I wrote "for all it's worth". If you had dealt with them and your experience had been positive you perhaps may have felt compelled to defend them as well. I'm really not keen to participate in a public spat that's been done to death. And strange as it may seem I was not interested in promoting my interests - you've done a "good" job of that on your own. If you read my previous posts my replies, advice etc. have always been of a non commercial nature.

Apologies Vera for this digression to your original post.

Vera

All this makes me kinda sorry that I decided not to stay there. Then at least I would have had first-hand knowledge of the place, which seems in short supply.
I certainly didn't take worldinabag's comments as touting the hotel. He asked for feedback if I went. And as for the correspondence with the hotel being amiable, I had the same experience. Several e-mails, all answered promptly and complete answers, even if in a bit tortured English.

Vera

TexasAggie

Hi Vera,

I am the poster who most recently called out Luca, the owner of 58 Via Cavour AKA 58 Le Real Deluxe. To my knowledge, there has been no change of ownership but I only know what I read on Tripadvisor.

I almost stayed at this hotel on our honeymoon in June 2004 and had exchanged several emails with Luca when he started changing all sorts of details like the price, what was included in the rate, what type of room we would have, and the check-in and check-out times. He made us very uncomfortable and left an impression in our minds of being a pretty unscrupulous character. Pleasant when trying to sell his property, self-interested and dishonest once he had you on the hook. Fortunately we had not sent our credit card information and so we were able to find accomodations elsewhere and we had a lovely honeymoon. Ironically, in our initial emails with Luca he mentioned numerous times that his property was highly rated on tripadvisor and suggested we look at the reviews. It later became quite obvious that many of, and possibly the majority of the reviews were posted by himself and others affiliated with his hotel.

There are many other lovely places to stay in Rome, and many of them are quite inexpensive. I see no reason to subject yourself to the possibility of a bad experience at a hotel owned by a man who has a history of dishonesty when it best serves him.

tedgale

Sidebar: Appalling error in my Latin quotation: Must have been tired or over-refreshed.

Should have written "Quis RIDES?" Sorry.