Dorgal

Help! We are leaving for Rome in 7 hours....my sister arrived there this morning and called. Our reservation was at the Residenza San Pantaleo - made 8 months ago and CONFIRMED last week for 2 rooms with 2 twin beds in each. She arrives and the manager says he doesn't have 2 rooms - only one and he put 4 COTS in it!! I am LIVID!! What can I do now? Should I try to find availabilit online and call those places when I arrived in Rome? Or - is there a hotel clearing house type of service in Rome where you can call and they can check overall availabilty? Or should we just wander around knocking on doors??!!
My sister also said there is no AC in the room - even though the web site says it has AC!! Just a WARNING to all of you thinking about using this place - BEWARE!!
Any ideas...help....appreciated. Thanks.

jay

I dont know what your hotel is like but try the hotel des artistes. It is not the fanciest but is clean and I think a good value.

suze

Sorry to hear this situation. At this point if I were in your shoes, I think I'd just get on the plane, try to have a good flight, and sort it out after I arrived. Even if it means 1 night with no air-con on cots! If you have a guidebook you could can call or go to other hotels, or maybe find a tourist information center that could help?

Hopefully some Rome experts will see your plea and post better ideas for you.

My best advice is (take deep breaths) don't be LIVID it won't help fix this and could ruin your trip from the start... you can get past this bump in the road!! Good luck.

Eloise

You could try to go to the Rome Tourist Board at:

www.romaturismo.it

Click on "Contact us"; it gives you addresses, telephone numbers and locations as well as an e-mail address and says that they will help you with "inconveniences and inefficiencies."

There is a location at International Arrivals in Terminal B at Fiumicino.

You might give them a quick call and ask whether they can find you a hotel when you arrive. It would be preferable to wandering around looking on your own.

elaine

It is still daytime there, call the hotel now. Start off calmly, remind the manager that you h ave confirmed the arrangements, and you would like him to explain what the problem is and how he intends to solve it,and that 4 beds in one room is not acceptable.
If he doesn't have other rooms, he knows a hotel that does.
best of luck

Sue_xx_yy

The AC situation is not unique to this hotel. Many hotels in Italy, especially the more modest ones, only turn on the AC in the very hottest months. I agree it is aggravating to be told the hotel has AC and then to find out that for all practical purposes, it does not.

Beware of cancelling this hotel entirely, they can still ding you for the cancellation policy at least for a double room. Some of your party should consider staying if you wish to avoid this penalty.

You most certainly should not be charged 2 double rooms with bath for what is in essence a quad room. It is possible that for the price you negotiate (for a QUAD, not 2 dbls) and the headache of booking a second room elsewhere, you can live with it - it'll make a great story at some time.

Otherwise I'd wait until I got there. You need more info. Consider raiding the 'rainy day piggybank' if necesssary for a last minute room of the quality you can accept. Good luck.

Betsy

Take copies of all reservation and confirmation paper work with you and good luck!

Sue_xx_yy

Sorry, that should have read "they might still try to ding you for one night's cancellation of 1 double room if you cancell entirely." I'm not sure how the policy ought to apply in this case - but you should be prepared to 'discuss' the matter with the hotel. Again, best of luck.

SuzieC

and Laterooms.com has available rooms.

ellenem

Also venere.com has instant confirmation on many properties.

kellyee21

There is also a hotel finding service at the Termini train station. Maybe have your sister check with them, I have used them before and had good luck with them.

ParadiseLost

The hotel finding service at FCO Arrivals and at Termini is called and signposted 'Hotel Reservations'. Regards, Walter

Huitres

Dorgal: I would do as the others have suggested, get over there and see what can be remedied on-site. If not, you could stay in the Campo dei Fiori area (Hotel Campo dei Fiori, 6 Biscione) and Albergo Della Lunetta come to mind and are both very reasonable. You will not need AC now. I just returned from Italy 2 days ago and while the days are hot, the nights have been cooling off considerably since Sept 7. It rained 2 days last week in fact. Try to go and have a good time, Italy is wonderful. I am sure your hotel mess can be fixed. Buon viaggio!

Dorgal

Thanks to all for your suggestion on my first day entering Rome with a hotel mess. We did indeed have to stay four in a room for 2 nights and then we were given the second room as promised. I completely feel that this was not an oversight but just some kind of crazy "juggling" that Florio - the manager - does to keep all of his 5 rooms full at once. We managed fine and we did get the AC working. I had read alot of mixed reviews on this place - and even with its shorcomings - I would stay again. IT is a fantastic location - you can spit to the Piazza Navonna - and the price at $110 Euro per night is great. You get a ticket for breakfast around the corner - coffee, croissant and juice - a typical Roman breakfast. Rooms were clean - bathrooms worked - fresh towels every day. We did find that others complained about the smell of cigarette smoke - and we did experience that on and off during our stay....but this is very common in Italy as it seems everyone still smokes. This hotel would probably not be a great choice for anyone REALLY averse to the smell of smoke......but we were fine with it. Free internet access in the ahllway during the day too! By the looks of the number of Faxes and emails printing into their computer - I would say this place is very much in demand.
The HOtel Primavera is on the second floor of this building so worth checking into for great location too.
Our trip ended up just wonderful - despite the 2 night pajama party we had!

degas

Glad it all worked out. Did they give you a significant concession on the room charges?

Dorgal

I guess- only charged us for a room for 2 for those first 2 nights - and gave all four of us breakfast coupons which he said were worth $20E.

suze

Dorgal- Thanks so much for getting back to us with how things turned out! Your post caught my eye that first morning, and it's fun to hear 'the rest of the story'...

Patrick

I've heard of when you're given lemons to make lemonade. Sounds like you were able to get over being "livid" and make great lemonade out of the lemon you were handed. Congratulations.