I stayed here in summer 2007, as part of my Contiki tour around Europe. I had already stayed at the camping village in Venice, which was far more clean and comfortable than I'd expected, so coming from that, this one proved a bit of a disappointment. It looked so nice, with rows of little log cabins amongst fir trees, and the smell of the trees and the wood, mixed with summer air and the outdoors, gave it a lovely feel, like a real adventure. And while there is no proper bar, like the one at Venice- only a tiny one that our large group wouldn't fit into- there were wooden benches and tables all set very close together, so we were able to sit at those and make our own entertainment. But after the first impressions, things were less perfect than they seemed.
First of all, when we arrived there, there was endless confusion over what cabin each of us were in. The reps were getting really stressed and flustered, and most of us were standing around in confusion. I know we were a big group, but the reps knew we were coming, and it was meant to be all arranged, plus we didn't arrive until late in the evening, so I thought it should've been all arranged, and that confusion shouldn't have happened.
The cabins were much less impressive than the ones at Venice had been. I liked the fact that they were open in the middle, unlike the last ones, so you could walk right through, especially as the girls on the other side of it were from our group. But in other ways, I wasn't impressed. These cabins were much smaller and stuffier than the ones in Venice, and in these ones, you could really feel the lack of air conditioning. There were even ants crawling up the walls, we realised in disgust that night. There were also no showers and toilets in our cabins, so we had to use the separate shower block, and while that's the norm in a lot of campsites, the facilities of the showers and toilets left a lot to be desired. There was no toilet paper in the toilet, you had to bring your own, so if you forgot to bring it, it was just too bad. And the showers, while alright in themselves, had no locks on the doors, so you spent your whole time terrified that someone would walk in on you. I couldn't understand why they didn't at least have locks!
The campsite also ran to a different system to most others. You couldn't use cash in this campsite, you had to purchase a special Camp Card on arriving, and only that could be used. You had a choice of a 30 euro one, or a 60 euro, so either one was quite a lot of money, but you were afraid not to get one, in case you needed to buy anything. And it was even worse for me when I lost my original Camp Card and had to buy a new one specially, and only found the other one after I'd arrived home!!
There was also a laundry lady on site, who you could hand your washing in to, but things didn't run smoothly there either. When I went back to collect my laundry, the woman kept telling me- with very basic English and a lot of hand waving- that I was handing her the wrong ticket, and I was frustrated trying to explain, 'But this is the only one I have!' It was my mistake- I then found another ticket in my bag and realised it must've been that one she meant, and while I admit that was my fault, I still couldn't understand the system of her handing out more than one ticket, which makes confusion very easy to happen, and I also think the laundry lady should've had better ENglish, to make communication easier. Someone else told me that that same laundry lady had made the colours on her clothes run on another occasion, but I had no problems, and thought they were washed very well- it was just the confusion on collecting them!
We didn't have dinner in the camp on our first night- we ate out in Rome- but the second night the meal was fine, I couldn't fault it. It seemed a fair enough distance from Rome itself, but we were taken in by Contiki coach each time, so I can't comment on making your own way in, and how long it really took. And be aware- Seven Hills really DOES mean seven hills, or maybe more- the camp is VERY hilly!!!
PS I really stayed here in July 2007, but had to tick the box for 2011, as earlier options weren't available.
