Hotel Helios

The staff were pleasant enough, and the hotel was clean and basic. It’s close to the seaside, but the interior feels stuck in the 1970s and was almost creepy. Breakfast was included in the rate, though it gave me a canteen sort of feeling. At €110 a night, I don’t think it was worth it.

Hotel Helios is simple, but clean, and the staff worked hard to accommodate us despite not being prepared for our group. It’s only a couple of minutes’ walk from a great stretch of beach, which you can also see from the balconies. The hotel is about 50 minutes from Rome airport. ITA Airways had bused around 40 of us here after delays on our Athens to Rome flight made us miss our connection to the U.S. Helios knew we were coming, but hadn’t been told to feed us, and with the warm season ending there was hardly anywhere else open. The hotel pulled together a fresh, delicious dinner of pasta, grilled chicken, salad, and gelato with blackberry compote. It wasn’t fancy, but we really appreciated it. They also gave us a Nutella-filled croissant, juice, and water the next morning. The beach area has restaurants and a gelato shop, and I imagine it gets busy in peak season. I got some great sunset photos from the hotel balcony. Our travel day had already included a three-hour delay flying from D.C. to Rome, then a six-hour-and-45-minute delay on the Athens to Rome leg after we’d woken at 2 a.m., and our next flight from Rome to D.C. was delayed by an unknown amount. We had no luggage, and we won’t fly ITA again. We’ve only just learned that ITA used to be Italia Airways. I was told they went bankrupt amid complaints about this kind of problem. Their planes haven’t been updated since the 1950s, and when there are technical issues, they wait to bring in a working plane, causing delays that are unacceptable when they keep happening. I think they may be heading for bankruptcy again. Several passengers are filing complaints, including a former mayor from a town in Maryland, U.S.

The Wi-Fi was ridiculously slow, and the shower head was filthy. The whole experience was a mess. I’m never coming back.

I won’t stay here again. The service and food were terrible, and the Wi-Fi didn’t work. The walls are so thin you can hear your neighbor using the toilet or talking on the phone. Staff ignored the “Do Not Disturb” sign. Starting around 6 or 7 in the morning, the cleaning was so noisy, with staff shouting and talking right by the doors. Just awful.