Gleda Rooms

What will bring us back, beyond Pompeii’s historical sights, is the people. The warmth and hospitality of southern Italy really made us fall in love with the city and country. We’ll definitely stay here again when we travel in southern Italy. Our flight delays meant we arrived three hours later than planned, but host Alf waited for us and told us not to worry about the time. Concert road closures had confused our driver, so Alf ran to where our car was, walked us back to the closest possible parking, then took us to our thoughtfully presented, spotless rooms and explained how everything worked. It was very late, and he had a 3yo waiting at home, but he made sure we were all settled and comfortable before leaving. We only stayed one night, and there was a concert in the town square the night we arrived, so some noise was understandable. The place is right by a piazza and a park, and that comes with the setting. For us, though, none of that outweighed Alf’s warm welcome and hospitality.

As we were walking from the train station to the accommodation, the host cancelled our booking. Hotel prices in the area had gone up, and he could get a better rate for the room. I’ve seen many other reviews saying this has happened at this accommodation too. This is a huge safety risk for women and families.

The room was lovely and clean, with everything looking new, and breakfast was included and delicious. The manager was kind and friendly. It’s very close to the Pompei ruins and the Pontificio Santuario della Beata church, on a main street with lots of restaurants and close to the train station. Good value for what I paid, and I’d definitely go back.

We ended up with nowhere to stay at Gleda Rooms Deluxe after a day of travel, then had to use the alternative Alfonso arranged. It wasn’t very nice, had poor reviews and unappealing pictures, and never felt safe. Hotels.com tried to find us another place, but nothing was available nearby. We got no money back because the replacement had 1 star and Alfonso’s listing had no stars, so it was apparently considered an upgrade. It felt like our booking money had paid for a worse room so ours could be resold for much more, with Hotels.com policies used to cover it. We’re a couple, and booked through Hotels.com after seeing the positive reviews. There are now more reviews describing similar experiences. Gleda Rooms and Gleda Rooms Deluxe seem to be essentially the same, so be careful with both. Here’s the context for what happened. We booked Gleda Rooms Deluxe about two weeks ahead, from 29th April until 1st May, for around £120 for two nights. In the week before, Napoli might win the Italian Football League on 30th April, and accommodation around Naples Bay went up sharply. I checked Gleda Rooms again and saw a price of something like €400 a night, instead of the £60 we paid. I also looked for alternatives in Pompeii because of how Alfonso spoke to me before the trip. We asked in advance whether we could arrive at 10pm. Check-out was listed as until 8:30pm, with requests possible. Alfonso said it would cost €120 extra. We said we’d arrive before 8:30pm, and he warned that even being one minute late would mean a €100 charge. We arranged to get there around 8pm and told him more than 24h ahead. At 7:30pm on arrival day, he messaged to confirm our time and didn’t mention a problem. We said we were on the local train from Napoli to Pompeii and would reach the property at 8:15 pm. At 8:00 pm, he said he’d put us in another property because he had to go to hospital for a serious medical issue. Then the explanation changed to sewage in our room. Surely that would have been a problem at 7:30pm when he first messaged. In effect, he was cancelling our booking and moving us elsewhere. The alternative didn’t meet the same standard and had no breakfast. We said no, we were arriving on time, and he needed to honor our reservation. We got to Gleda Rooms Deluxe at 8:15pm. Alfonso wasn’t there and kept ignoring our calls. Other guests told us he’d seemed fine, and there was no sewage leak. They thought he’d probably lied because all the rooms seemed occupied. So we were outside our accommodation in Pompeii after travelling all day, with nowhere else to go except the place Alfonso had supposedly booked. We didn’t trust him and couldn’t know if the replacement was legitimate, so the whole thing felt like a scam. Even if it was real, its bad reviews and poor-looking photos made it seem like a lower standard and less safe.