Ateneo Garden Palace

The breakfast was good, and the room was quiet, but that was about it. The room was dirty when I arrived, and the receptionist was rude in general and didn’t sort it out. It was also very worn, the bathroom smelled of sewage, and the air conditioner didn’t work. The neighborhood wasn’t nice either, with homeless people around and dirty streets. Watch out for the elevator doors, they nearly badly hurt someone.

The beds were the hardest part of our three-day stay. It honestly felt like sleeping on the floor, and by the last morning it was nearly unbearable. I’m not old, but after sleeping on that bed I felt a few years older. The front desk staff, on the other hand, were extremely nice. One woman whose name I didn’t catch explained the bus system and marked up a map to show us how to get back to the hotel if we got lost. Breakfast had loads of food and drink options. Our first-floor room also had large double doors opening onto a beautiful inner garden.

Breakfast was really great. We chose the hotel because we thought it was near Termini, but it takes more than 15 minutes to walk there, and the route felt dark and scary. The staff were generally fine, though the service was just answering what I asked. Some smiled and some didn’t; nobody was rude, but they weren’t especially kind either. It seemed nice enough as my first hotel in Italy, until I stayed at other four-star hotels later in the trip and found their service much better. My family was most disappointed by the room. I agree with the review saying the booking-site photos were fake. There was dust, leaves, and ants on the floor, and rust on the bath floor.

I was here for an academic conference, and it was an excellent stay. Our room was very nice, with powerful AC and a balcony where I could sit and read. The staff were friendly and helpful, and the hotel is close to Termini, with excellent cafes and restaurants all around.