Aldrovandi Villa Borghese - The Leading Hotels Of The World

When we arrived, the staff at the reception decided to upgrade our reservation to a perfect and comfortable Junior Suite. Service cleanliness, courtesy and helpfulness were impeccable. Away from the crowded city centre of Rome, we could reach Piazza del Popolo through the Villa Borghese gardens and a free shuttle operates from the hotel to the Spanish steps and vice versa. I have suggested this hotel to some friends who were very happy with this choice too.

The location of the Aldrovandi is great if you want to get away from the noise and crowdedness of inner Rome. However, unless you plan to eat at the hotel every night, there's really no restaurants within walking distance, so plan to take a cab for evening meals. The front desk can get you a cab in less than 5 minutes. The pool area is very nice and quiet and the pool bar staff is great. Meals poolside were also very good. "The Grill" indoors is closed without notice sometimes, however, eating in the bar room is just as fine. You are lucky if Lorenzo is working--I've never had better cocktails or service. Maid service is more than adequate. We stayed in a Deluxe room with an amazing bathroom, decent room space and a walk in closet. The bed in our room and I assume all rooms was EXTREMELY firm (way too firm for me and I even prefer a firm mattress) and the linens were scratchy and stiff. TV in the room is VERY limited (only one English channel) unless you want to watch CNN all day. Minibar prices were astronomical, even by minibar standards. The breakfast buffet was included in our room price and very nice, but serves the exact same thing every day. Unless you want to pay an extra 40Euro a day, get a deluxe room with the buffet included. (Avoid room service--it's very slow and will likely arrive cold.) Staff is very attentive and goes out of their way to assure you are comfortable. This is a "higher end" hotel than we usually stay at and was fun one time, but the linens, beds and ammenities are just as good if not better at other hotels for 1/2 the price.

We came back with a very bad taste about the hotel. The biggest problem about the hotel is its unfriendly staff. Everything thing is a no, you pay 200++ Euro's for a room and ask for an Iron they will NOT provide you with one. The connections to the city are very poor and you have to pre book there complimentary van, which is full at all times so you end up waiting for an hour to get a ride. You can grab a cab though, however they are very expensive from the hotel as they add a hotel charge. The hotel lines of the hotel went down atleast twice in our stay and did I tell you its a 5 start property. How many times have you seen a hotel whose phone lines go down? But worst of all is that the staff is outrageously rude, oh I almost forgot the mention that our wallet was stolen in the room, but I am sure that will not happen to you! Good luck if you intend on staying there as you will need lots of it.