I score this hotel 0 out of 10 purely on the attitudes and organisation of the receptionists and management. I'll deal with these at the end, let's concentrate on what is good.

First thing is the location, perfect for the Roman Fori, Colosseo and, because of the proximity of the bus stops and Metro anywhere else in Rome and its locale you want to go.

Next the room. Nothing special, exactly what I would expect in any 3* plus hotel in Italy and we have stayed in quite a few. However, I had booked a standard double room and Palatino's website states that the room would contain a large double bed. We had two single beds, pushed together but still only made up as single beds. Not a good start.

I had also requested a smoking room. Now I know that this is not guaranteed but this is a 200 room hotel, it is the beginning of February and judging from the breakfast and bar traffic. the hotel is, shall we say, far short of full. So as I said, room nothing special.

Next, the breakfast. Absolutely superb and the breakfast staff were very friendly and helpful, no problems here.
On to the bar. Again, friendly barman, good range of drinks and cocktails, very comfortable lounge area, however, the bar closed at midnight.

Still there is a good suprmercato over the road in the direction of the Metro where you can stock up with nibbles and late night alcohol.

Now for the reception. All the receptionists we encountered adopted a 'superior' attitude and seemed pre-possessed with their own self importance. Knowledge of English was good except for the last receptionist we encountered. We had previously arranged to leave our 2 suitcases at the hotel pending our flight later that night. When we went to collect our cases, all knowledge of English had disappeared! Draw your own conclusions.

Pricewise, no complaints, everything is clearly laid out so 'you pays your money etc'.

I have said enough except that we are returning to our normal hotel Valle in the summer, just up the road, which we normally use for our stays in Rome.