Hotel Max

The luggage incident was the last straw. When we changed rooms, the staff misplaced my bag with my passport, ID, and other important documents. The receptionist spent 15 minutes opening hotel room doors to look for it. Before that, the AC in our room was broken and she wouldn’t move us until the next day, even though it was over 30 degrees and unbearably hot. There were two of us, but she also refused to give us a key each. The staff were extremely unprofessional, the accommodation was awful, and it wasn’t close to worth what we paid. Never coming back. Terrible experience.

It’s near Rome termini and only a short walk to the Colosseum, but this felt more like a B&B than a hotel. Reception is on one floor and the rooms are upstairs, with a shared entrance. The bathroom was private and we got fresh towels almost every day. The place itself is real, just not hotel standard. There was hardly anywhere to hang jackets or leave shoes, and the desk in the shared hallway made for an awkward layout. The shower head was rusty. We visited in warm April weather, but there was no AC, so opening the window was the only option and it was noisy. The elevator power goes off sometime overnight and comes back later, so we had to walk down to the ground floor. Reception opens at 7 a.m. When we passed through the hallway, we saw drug remains and urine. The main door was open to the public.

The room was basic and small, so it’s fine if all you need is somewhere to sleep. The website photos give a misleading impression. The bathroom was tiny: with the toilet and bidet facing each other, there were only about four inches to step into after the shower. The shower door covered only half the opening and swung in and out.

The rooms are small but nice, and the place was clean. Staff were very pleasant. It’s on the third floor of an old building, close to Termini and the metro. Piazza San Pietro and the Vatican Museums are five stops away. A good base for a few nights in Rome.