Help with those #@&% reviews!!!
 

Hello, I've booked Hotel Genio to stay 7 nigths in Rome, but I found lots of negative critics - most frequently that they try to move you to one of the other hotels of the chain, saying that there was a mistake with reservations made one month in advance... Is there an obvious way to avoid that procedure?

It's no guarantee, but I would ask to have a confirmation faxed to you stating specifically which one of their hotels you have a reservation for and call to confirm once again before you leave home. I would also try to check in early.

It doesn't sound as though they are the type to honor confirmations. If you get there and they don't have the room you have reserved, you're out of luck, they're not going to kick somebody else out! I would look for another hotel, one that you can depend on to give you what they promise.

Hi S,

With all the hotels in Rome available at that price, why take a chance?

Have you entered <Rome Hotel> in the "search this forum box"?

((I))

There is absolutely nothing you can do to prevent being 'walked'. If a hotel has this reputation, I would avoid like the plague.

More bluntly, you are crazy for opening yourself up to this sort of stress even before you GET there, much less after you arrive.

yes, there is a way to avoid this: don't stay there, period.

Hi,
Just to be fare: I'm back from my stay at H. Genio, I've had exactly the room shown in their site, and the breakfast buffet was good. It is true that their rooms vary in size (I've looked at some floors maps) and so do the bathrooms.
Maybe because I follow Grantop advice and send a fax with a nice top of the Ministery where I work to confirm reservation, everything went smooth...

I stayed at Hotel Genio in Nov 2002. Unlike your experience, I booked them after reading some glowing remarks. Let me just say that it was nowhere near worth the amount of money I paid for a double ($180). The room was noisy, tiny (which I expected), breakfast was nothing to bragged about, and the desk service was not very courteous. The good points is the proximity to Piazza Navona (2 blocks) and to the Vatican (10 mts walk), and the fact that they stored our luggage when we chose to take a 2-day break trip to Assisi. If I was to do it again I would go for Hotel Nazionale or Albergo del Senato. So, in summary, if I were you I would e-mail them with your concerns ("hit first, so you can hit twice") or cancel all together and book another hotel.

SaozinhaP,

I'm glad everything worked out. I think tripadvisor is a joke - especially when a place gets an even number of 5 ratings and 1 ratings. IMO, it is very warped by peoples expectaions.

I think reviewers often expected to get a similar quality room in the center of a major European city as in get in their home town of Hickville just because they are paying the same amount for the room. What nonsense.

If you found lots of negative reviews on something as drastic as changing your reservation to a new location, then you have been fairly warned on what to expect when you arrive.

Didn't see that it all worked out for you, which is definitely a good thing. I personally don't think tripadvisor is a joke. Just because it didn't happen to you doesn't mean that it didn't happen to many others. I would count myself as lucky.

Like others, went on to share thoughts and advice and didn't get to the update posted earlier today. Glad it all worked out for you. I still stand by my advice.