Rome /Trouble with the area of hotel
 

I booked a trip to Rome for 8 people from 03/06/06 to 03/11/06 and after paying for an upgrate Air France Holidays booked us the 4 nights at the Tempio di Pallade Hotel near the train station at 425 G.Giolitti....I've checked a few websites and I am getting some troubling things about...tough area...graffii....far away from public transportation....can anybody give any information concerning this area....this is our first time in Rome and for some in our party the first time in Europe.....Thanks loads ....Ben

Hi, Ben-
I took a look at the location of this hotel,and while it's not particularly charming,I don't think it will be a disaster.I'm not sure how anyone could say it's not well-located vis a vis public transportation,as it's near Termini Station,which is a major hub for metro,bus,taxi,everything.

If you can make a change,I would try to find something in the Centro Storico near Piazza Navona/Fontana di Trevi or Campo dei Fiori.If you can't,well,you'll survive.As I said,not the most charming area,but it's not dangerous per se.

I'm afraid what you have been reading is correct. Via Giolitti runs along one side of the train station, but as far as I can see from www.mappy.com, it's pretty far down the street from the front of the station, where a great many bus lines have stops. It's not an agreeable neighborhood.

I would call Air France Holidays and ask them for a list of the hotels they use. You can then come back and ask for advice.

I checked the AF Holidays Rome air/hotel packages. I'm not sure which package you booked: Presenting Rome or Rome Escapade. Only these two offer the Tempio di Pallade Hotel. The hotel is the lowest category (tourist) so I don't understand why it's considered to be an upgraded hotel. Most of the hotels offered in both packages are not rated well at Trip Advisor except for the Albergo Ottocento.

I suggest you call Air France Holidays on Monday when they reopen and see what you can do to change that hotel.

I'm confused. I don't see anything on Air France Holidays that offers four nights in Rome. Tempio di Pallade is not even Tourist, it's Budget, so I really don't see how they could have asked you to pay for an upgrade.

Tempio di Pallade is offered in a six-night package in March, "Presenting Rome." ("Rome Escapade" is for only three nights and is not offered in March.) Of the other hotels in the "Presenting Rome" package, Galeno, Selena, Contilia and Napoleon are either terribly out of the way or in bad locations; Regency and Rose Garden Palace are in good but somewhat distant locations; Smeraldo, Valadier and Ottocento are in good, central locations.

Francophile03 says that only Ottocento is rated well on www.tripadvisor.com, but I'm pretty sure you'd do better at Smeraldo or Valadier than at Tempio di Pallade or any of the others.

Smeraldo is in the historical center, the location many frequent visitors to Rome prefer, but the streets in that area are narrow, and it's a traditional-style hotel in an old building; 99.9% of the buildings in that area are old.

Valadier is in a good part of town, it's central, it seems to be a more modern-style hotel, and it offers more amenities.

I would also urge you to call Air France Holidays and ask that they make a change. They did not tell you the truth about Tempio di Pallade being an "upgrade", so they have to make it up to you.

Thank you for your replies....my orginal package was the 6 night,but I added 2 days extra in Rome and one extra day in Florence and Venice....I think all of the upgrate went to Venice where we are staying in a 4 star....in talking to Air France they could only move the 8 of us for an additional $158 per person or about $80 more per room per day and since they assure me that the rooms themselves at Tempio di Pallade are good I figure I could better use the extra $1288 for transportation back and forth to and from the hotel ....long story short....because I can't seem to score on Priceline or a couple of other sites for a better deal...we'll stick with the Tempio di Pallade and hope for the best....thanks again for your imput...any other insites will be greatly appreciated....Ben

We have reservations at the Tempio di Pallade (one night) a couple of weeks after you go. Please let us know what you think of it and the neighborhood.

We stayed at this hotel in 2003. We are four ladies 47 to 60. We never felt unsafe and walked every night. It was a clean, inexpensive hotel.

It's not an area that I'd choose first, but it's not really all that bad.
For the money saved ,you could hire many taxis.
Don't worry about it,have a great trip!!

Hello from Detroit!
Bengee, we stayed near the Train Station and we never felt unsafe. We also enjoyed the fact that we were able to shop in the Train Station and get something quick to eat there too. And of course catch any type of transportation around the city or country.

Have a great time and I look forward to your post when you get home. HINT HINT