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| Accommodation | 6/10  |
|---|---|
| Customer Service | 5/10 |
| Resort | 5/10 |
| Food | 5/10 |
| Location | 6/10 |
| Value for Money | 6/10 |
| Overall rating | 6/10 |
Full review by
gardkarlsen
expert review 
on 1st Aug 2006
User Rating : 6
Respect :
0
Good Points: Clean Close to transportation
Bad Points: No breakfast included in our package The area around Termini has a bad reputation
General comments: If you want to see pictures from the Bettoja Nord Hotel in Rome, please feel free to check out my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com.
When we decided to go to Rome we looked into booking plane tickets and hotel separately. Eventually, the combination of time constrictions and budget led to us buying a package deal from Expedia - plane tickets and hotel. We bought a deal that took us from London to Rome flying with Alitalia, and 5 nights at the Bettoja Hotel Nord Nuova Roma for £720 (about $1300) excluding breakfast. As usual, it was not easy to decide which hotel to choose. We did some homework, and most reviews indicated that the Termini area was "highly undesirable". The decision to stay in the area was influenced by price, and the fact that there were renowned 4-5 star hotels in the same vicinity. How "undesirable" could the area really be then?
On the morning of July 2nd we arrived at the Termini train station using the Leonardo express. The hotel is located in the street Giovanni Amendola so it is only a short walk from the main entrance of the train station. The reception desk area was typical for a smaller European hotel I guess: quite tiny. But the check-in was pretty fast and after filling in some papers we got the key to room 544 and took the lift to our room on the 5th floor. The room looked really dark when we came in, but it got much lighter when we opened the doors to a small balcony, but we didn't leave the doors open very long. It was getting quite hot, even if it was early morning, so it was better to keep them shut and let the air-conditioning do its job. The air-conditioning only seemed to have three settings: high, medium and low, and it was a bit noisy, but it was better than nothing. The view from the balcony was not spectacular either.
The room itself was not that big, but it had what we needed: a double bed, a little TV on a desk with a few English channels (BBC, CNN etc) and a small safe where we could lock up our valuables. The floor was tiled, and the walls had been painted in a yellowish color. This did brighten up the room, as it looked somewhat gloomy with the dark furniture. The bathroom was bigger than expected, and it was nice and light, with light tiles and natural light coming in from a window. There was a bath (with a shower option using a shower curtain), toilet, bidet and a sink. Together with the usual soap, shampoo and shower cap. And there was also a hair dryer on the wall. Tip: If you like hot showers, let someone else shower before you, as the water took a while to heat up :-)
According to the information in the hotel it was possible to get access to a wireless internet connection, but I didn't bring along my laptop so I never got to try it out. There was also a gym that we never took a look at, as we got enough exercise from walking all over Rome every day. On the roof top there is a terrace where you can sit, have a drink and enjoy the view of rooftops in Rome. Breakfast was not included in our hotel package, and we didn't eat at the hotel, but there was a nice place to have breakfast on the corner of the hotel (turn left when leaving the hotel) called Nori. They had very good coffee and different sandwiches. Remember that it is cheap if you just have your coffee by the counter, but if you sit down and get the coffee served then the price is higher. I think I paid about €0.7 for an Espresso at the counter, but when we sat down we had to pay about €4.5 for a Cappuccino.
Location:
As mentioned initially, the hotel is located a few minutes from the Termini station. This was handy when arriving from the airport and when leaving again :-) It was also handy for getting around Rome. There is a bus station in front of the Termini, and we used buses (no. 40 and 64) all the time to get around. There is also a metro station at the Termini that can be used, but we didn't really use it that much, as the Rome guidebook didn't have a proper subway map. The Termini area is not that far from the main attractions in Rome. If you walk down Via Cavour I think it only takes about 15 minutes to get to the street where you see Coliseum, Forum etc. There were restaurants in the area around the hotel, but we normally ate in places around Piazza Navona.
Conclusion:
We had a nice stay at this 3 star hotel, and I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it to others, but as in New York, we got just what we expected: a small room where we could spend the night and get a shower after walking around in the heat of Rome all day.
gardkarlsen's review and ratings | 866 words
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