Relais Tiburtina

The location was the only thing we liked. Otherwise, the room and hotel felt strange and disappointing, and I wouldn’t recommend this place. Breakfast was almost nonexistent. We went early and found only small supermarket croissants and biscuits. There was no bread, butter, ham, or cheese, the mini croissants were hard, the microwave didn’t work, and the coffee machine barely worked and had no water. Nobody was there to manage breakfast or help guests. I understand they may call this an Italian breakfast, but we found it so inadequate that we went to a café for something decent. The room was dusty, the sheets smelled, and the furniture was old. The bathroom was in poor shape: the bathtub door wouldn’t stay shut, and when someone in the next room showered at night, water came up through our bathroom drain and flooded our room. No one was at reception overnight, so we put towels on the floor and checked out the next morning. The Wi-Fi barely worked. At check-in the receptionist didn’t speak English. We weren’t asked for any documents, just our name, and were handed the key. That made us worry that anyone could stay there and put other guests’ safety at risk.

We paid $135-$150 for one night, which is outrageous for this experience. There was no queen bed, just two twin mattresses pushed together, and the room was outdated, dirty, and cheap-looking. The water wouldn’t drain, and checkout was at 10 AM. This place badly needs to learn how to run a clean business. It took me 40 minutes to work out how to contact the property after nobody was available for check-in around 19:00 local time. The stated reception hours were 9:00 to 21:30 every day, but that wasn’t true. I sent two emails and got no reply; a local man helped me get in. The misleading information was shameful. This isn’t a hotel, it’s a poorly run Airbnb. I agree with Sagarcumar Darmendra’s review, it was 100% accurate, and my experience confirms theirs.

The location was the one redeeming feature: the train station is nearby, and there’s a bus stop right by the entrance. Everything else was a disaster. The apartment smelled awful, as if it hadn’t been cleaned in ages. There were cobwebs on the ceiling, peeling paint, and the hall AC didn’t work. The kitchen fridge was broken, so the owner put a mini fridge in the hall, and the gas stove didn’t work, so there was a hotplate instead. The utensils were filthy. I picked up an unwashed plate, and it made my toes curl. There were ten packets of expired salt, but no detergent for the washing machine. The Wi-Fi didn’t work either. It’s supposed to be a B&B, but there was no breakfast anywhere and the owner never mentioned it. He also didn’t tell us in the morning that check-in closed at 9:30 pm. We assumed we could arrive whenever, then spotted his message while checking the address in our booking. It had been sent at 8:45 pm! He wasn’t there when we arrived, so we had to check in ourselves. Why couldn’t he simply explain this by phone when he wasn’t going to be there? The owner was rude and blamed us instead of addressing our complaints. He even complained about us, for reasons I don’t know. I wouldn’t recommend this place.

It’s a nice place to stay and relax, and after a long journey I found it restful. The bus and train are both less than a five-minute walk away, so you can get around Rome easily. Breakfast is simple, with coffee, tea, juice, and cookies. There’s a fridge in the room, but it was empty; a bottle of water would have been a nice touch. There are some small things to fix. The hotel has no one at reception between 20.00 and 07.00, so be mindful of its hours. The shower in Room 3 drains poorly and needs attention. Overall, a good stay. I’d give it 4/5 for those little shortcomings.