August 6, 2004

My wife and I visited Rome from July 11 to 15, 2004. What a great city. We stayed at the Jolly Hotel Vittorio Veneto (very close to Via Veneto) and walked ALL over the city. I would definetely recommend this hotel to people going to Rome. Rome is very “walk-friendly” (pardon my English) and you don’t need a taxi once you know the lay of the land. You definetely do not need to rent a car. We saw a great play (short duration) located at the Marmitime Prison (called Caesar - it’s not Just a Salad) by the Miracle Players (see their web site). Superb and very entertaining. The main sites to see are Pantheon & surroundings, Piazza Spagna and surroundings, Via Corso (from end to end - not too long), Vittoria Emmanuele Monument, Roman Forum & surroundings, Colloseum & surroundings, Vatican & surroundings. We couldn’t see it, but Piazza Navona is a must as is the cruise on the Tiber River, I believe, and we regret we could not get to see these two interests.
If you are into scuba diving, there are dive operators who operate out of Rome too.

Staff is great, they make you feel warm and cozy, breakfast was included , it was fine, lots of nothing really, but it was ok. My FIRST room was dirty, the carpeting was dirty, stained and right in your face. The bed cover was dirty,old and stained. Of course, I refused the room and was immediatley changed . The new room was fine the floor was tiled, the bed cover in better condition. Problem: money was missing, first change was taken, I didn't say anything it was only 2 euro. Next day and my last day, 50.euro was missing from my wallet. I had put my airline ticket, passport and 50.euro for the taxi together. The 50. was taken, not spent, lost or misplaced. I reported it to the hotel, they were very caring and couldn't be more helpful. They didn't return the money, but did send a bottel of wine, which I returned. Don't leave money around no matter how warm and cozy you feel.

My husband and I just returned from our trip to France and Italy. We stayed at the Jolly Vittorio Veneto in Rome and it was one of the BEST decisions we made! While we were there, temperatures were about 87-94 degrees and there is simply no refuge from the heat during the day. We were OH SO HAPPY to return to our very pleasantly air-conditioned hotel every night! The room was HUGE (by European standards) and it was very clean and we always felt safe.

Admittedly, for the price we paid (about 180 US Dollars a night) there was nothing extra-spectacular about the place by American standards (sort of like staying at a standard Hilton or a Marriott) but in Italy this place was pretty ideal! The staff was helpful and friendly and the breakfast (which was included in our booking through Expedia.com) was outstanding! Plenty of variety and was set up as a buffet...we took full advantage of this.

It was a bit of a hike to the Vatican but VERY close to the often-forgotten-but-not-to-be-missed Galleria Borghese! You have to have a reservation to go to this museum, and the hotel staff cheerfully arranged this for us.

Overall, we had a very pleasant stay here and would stay there again in a heartbeat!