Gigli d'Oro Suite, Rome city center Italy

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Gigli D'Oro We were in a junior suite. The first thing we noticed when we entered our room was how aesthetically pleasing it was. The ceilings look original to the building and are very nice, the lighting is very good, and just the overall feel is very comfortable and has a cool mix of modern and old-world. We were displeased, however, with the fact that there seemed to be a thin film of dust on the floor. We presumed that the room hadn't been occupied for quite some time and that it was just not vacuumed or mopped thoroughly before our arrival, but the floor remained this way all week despite us witnessing someone mopping the floor. We suppose it was just never vacuumed or mopped well. My wife would also often notice random strands of dark hair in the room after the room had been cleaned which was a bit unnerving considering she is blonde. The location of Gigli D'Oro is very good. Being just a short walk away from the Pantheon, we were ideally located in that we could visit all the touristy things we wanted to do in Rome, going as far as the Colosseum and Circus Maximus, the Spanish Steps, and the Vatican all on foot without a problem. Many restaurants are close by on various side streets. We definitely felt safe at Gigli D'Oro. For one, there are only a handful of rooms, so most of the people you see are familiar. And overall we were just pleased with the lighting and the feeling of safety with the security systems in place. We had mixed reviews about the amenities of the room. The small fridge was very nice to have, and the big screen TV on the wall opposite the bed was also really nice, with a lot of different channels available. We had a problem with our phone in that we could not make any calls except to the front desk. We talked to the front desk about it on several occasions, and they claimed to "fix" it on several occasions. We were very displeased with the fact that Tommy at the front desk on at least two occasions told us the phone was fixed, but he didn't actually verify it was fixed. He just said to try it and it would work--and it never did actually work. We stayed for almost an entire week in Rome and did not have a fully operational phone, which is utterly unacceptable for the price we paid. Having to go down and use the phone at the front desk or use the cell phone of one of the people working at the front desk was very annoying. We also had an issue with a light in our bathroom turning on and off at random and not being controlled by any switch. We were told this would be fixed but it never was. We also felt that the shower was not thoroughly cleaned over time, as there was a noticable amount of what looked like black mold along the edges where the shower walls met the shower floor. Additionally, while the extra shower sprays (i.e. body sprays) felt nice, if you used them, the water would not drain properly and you would end up standing in a couple inches of water. The laptop computer was very nice to have. However, when we first arrived we found that our ethernet cable was not working correctly. Fortunately, I was tech-savvy enough to notice the problem and go down and ask for a new cable. It's also important to note that this hotel does not have an iron which is a big deal when all of your clothes have become wrinkled from being crammed into a suitcase. The hotel employees' recommendation was to use their garment cleaning service which would have cost us quite a bit extra. We ended up using a hairdryer to "iron" our clothes. The complimentary breakfast was a daily highlight. The eating area, although small, was furnished well and was comfortable. The staff was very alert to everyone's arrival to eat breakfast and would very quickly ask us for any drink orders. There was a pretty decent variety of food--fruit, muffins, yogurt, cereal, pastries, and juices were all available. My wife ordered a cappucino just about every day for no extra charge. The hours of breakfast were also good for vacationers. Regarding the staff at the front desk, we mostly interacted with Tommy. We also interacted with another woman whose name escapes me, but she was from Rome. Her English was so-so, and oftentimes when both she and Tommy were at the front desk and I was asking them questions, Tommy would translate my English to Italian for her so she could better answer questions. Tommy was very nice and attempted to be accomodating, but in a lot of respects he couldn't solve our problems. The phone incident was particularly disappointing, as I didn't want to be assured that everything was working fine unless he went up the small flight of stairs to our room to check things out personally. Overall, we felt that at Gigli D'Oro we got a decent experience but it absolutely wasn't worth the very high price we paid. We feel that there are a lot of kinks still to be worked out, considering the hotel's been open for less than a year. At this time, we don't feel that Gigli D'Oro is quite firing on all cylinders yet. The highlights of Gigli D'Oro are the excellent complimentary breakfast, the location, and the overall aesthetic appeal of the rooms. The lowlights of Gigli D'Oro are the fact that the rooms were not pristine and we encountered several technical issues with the room (i.e. bathroom light turning on and off at random, phone not working, shower drain not draining properly, internet not working properly, and no iron), only one of which was resolved.

What did you enjoy most about your stay?
The highlights of Gigli D'Oro are the excellent complimentary breakfast, the location, and the overall aesthetic appeal of the rooms.

What did not meet your expectations?
The lowlights of Gigli D'Oro are the fact that the rooms were not pristine and we encountered several technical issues with the room (i.e. bathroom light turning on and off at random, phone not working, shower drain not draining properly, internet not working properly, and no iron), only one of which was resolved.

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