Arenula Suites

There were a lot of things to like about this place but taken as a whole, this was a less than positive stay. We knew from other reviews that this is not a standard hotel and does not have staff on the premises throughout the day. I therefore, knew to expect instructions on how to get in on my own. By the day of our check in, I had not heard from the owners by email or otherwise about how to get in to the room. I sent them an email at the beginning of the day asking for instructions on how to get in and did not receive a response. When we finally arrived to the building in the evening, I still did not have information about how to get in to the building or how to get in to the room. I was not able to reach the owners by phone. Fortunately, I had booked this stay through the Capital One travel portal, and was able to reach a Capital One representative. After being on the phone with them for around 45 minutes, they were finally able to reach the owners and I was finally sent the email with information on how to enter the building and room. Once inside, the room smelled overwhelmingly perfumed with whatever chemical used to clean. The Nespresso water tank still had water in it as well as hard water scaling. The corners of the shower had black mildew or mold. The sheets were pilled and needed replaced. On our second day, we finally received a response to my email the prior day asking how to get into the building. The owners shared that they had sent the check-in instructions to our agency, which was simply the Capital One travel portal...not an agency. I can somewhat understand the confusion here, but I do not know why the actual traveler (me) would not be notified directly. On the positive side, the building was charming, when I did interact with staff in person they were very friendly, and the location was very good--right at the intersection of some cool neighborhoods with great restaurants nearby. If you do choose to stay here, make sure you have an email about how to get in to the building and the room at least a few days before you check in. If you don't reach out to them ASAP, at least 2 business days prior to make sure you get the instructions. The check-in instructions were honestly very helpful and easy once I got them. The main issue here is that there needs to be a better effort to get in touch with the actual people traveling before they arrive and I strongly recommend a much deeper professional cleaning of the rooms.

Arenula Suites's location is incredibly convenient for walking to major sites and bus lines and the price was very reasonable for Rome. Reception hours are limited so you need to make sure you have the entry codes for the building and the hotel itself, as well as instructions as to where to go in the building before you arrive. The bed was comfortable, and housekeeping was daily, with towels and sheets being changed regularly. We had booked with breakfast which, as still advertised on their website, was supposed to be delivered to the room. Instead we had to go to a cafe about 5 minutes away using vouchers the hotel gave us. It was very minimal and not what we expected. The main drawback was our superior room (Room 201) was on the same floor as reception, and next to a storage closet, so during the day it was too noisy to take an afternoon break. It was quiet at night, however. Overall, a good choice for the money.