I have visited Rome in december/january and stayed at this hotel, very good service, the staff is nice, it is very close to Rome and very close to Valmontone Outlet where you can do all the shopping you like. This hotel is a very good choice for someone who is visiting Rome and it's whereabouts, the prices are very good also.

To begin with- Based on advertisements we were hoping to find the location of this hotel in close proximity to the city centre. However our efforts proved futile when apparently no one in Rome, none of the staff members we spoke to at the informations office in the train station, as well as the tourist information knew the location of Hotel Degli Amici in Artena. It took us almost an entire day to get directions after arriving in Rome at about 10am. We eventually managed to receive help from an Italian resident who assisted us in making a telephone call to this Hotel. Through this telephone conversation we were informed that we would be picked up after getting off valmontone train station, Unaware that it would cost 4Euros for each person for pick up.

We initially booked a double room for 2 adults but was joined by a third person, hence we decided to pay for an extra bed or a single room for the additional person. We were informed by the unpleasant staff that we needed to pay more than twice the amount for an extra bed, which was even much more than the advertised cost for a single room. The head staff hardened their hearts towards us despite us telling them the cost it was advertised for. We were told that it was too late to cancel our reservations. However, with the transportation costs that we would have incurred during our 3 nights and the exorbitant cost for an extra bed it was only possible to stay for only 1night and call the remaining 2nights a loss.

Breakfast was another matter. To eat what was included for breakfast was like 'walking on eggshells.' Uncertainty about what to eat made wanting to eat very uncomfortable for fear of being charged extra.

This hotel on a whole is surrounded by deception as it is in no way located 20minutes by car to the city center. It takes about 45minutes by train which cost 2.50 euros for each trip and 4 euros each way to be picked up by hotel staff which takes another 15-20min by car. Additionally one had to fit in with the time table for drop off each morning by hotel staff else you will be stucked with nothing to do as commuting is a big obstacle to this hotel's location.

The room itself although very cold was ok. However, only if it were located even close to the city center and the staff did a training course in customer service skills or even pretented to be customer friendly then and only then could it be an average experience.

Our stay in Hotel Degli Amici is the worst of its kind we have ever experienced. What makes us say that!!

To start with, the a/c in our room didn't work at all so after a long and tiring day, we ended up sleeping in an uncomfortably warm room.

The water is hot only when the hotel staff feels like letting you bathe in hot water. So early mornings bathers have to be prepared for a bath in cold water. And the water pressure has been reduced to an extremely low level, so people who are used to bathing in a lot of water end up deciding it is better not to bathe at all than bathing in such low pressure water. The explanation is on a card on the table which says 'water is precious, so don't waste it.' Very true, but a tourist who has been walking around all day does deserve a hot bath in a shower with enough water coming out of it, and when you don't get it, it is like torture.

There was continental buffet breakfast included in our reservation. So we reached the breakfast room and found a table full of different types of breakfast items like croissants, egg, bread, cakes, milk, cereals etc etc. We started serving ourselves. A lady from the counter was watching all the while we were serving and we were half-way through our breakfast when a hotel guy came and told us 'egg' was not included in continental breakfast, so we pay double the amount which is the price of American breakfast, just because my 4 year old daughter ate half a boiled egg. That lady could've told us of this while we were taking it , which she didn't. Don't you agree that they should've kept the different types of breakfasts separately if there was a price difference, with a board which says which is which? When we told the staff of it, they argued saying there was a small board at one end of the room which says which all food can be continental breakfast and we should've read that. So basically, they can't spare time to keep the american breakfast separately but the tourists have to make time to go around the breakfast room and find out where all such 'warning' boards are there before having their food.

We were not the only ones who had problems. We saw a couple of others who were checking out getting confused about the extra amounts which were charged for breakfast.

There is a notice in the lift saying there is no guarantee of safety for the stuff you leave in your room so you have to ask for a safety locker from the reception. When we went to ask for one, they tell us they can't give us one as they don't see why our room is not safe enough. I don't understand why that notice is there. But we didn't argue as they didn't know much English and communicating itself was difficult, forget arguing. We didn't lose any of our stuff but we spent a whole day worrying what if we lose something. Because there was a notice saying they will not take the responsibility for lost stuff and we had our passports and a lot of money in the room. It wasn't safe to carry it either.

The lady at the reception tells us repeatedly (more than twice as I asked her again and again because I knew we were forced to take it twice a day as there was no other public transport available in that town.) that the taxi service between the Valmonteno station and the hotel, which the hotel provides, costs just 6 euros. But when the final bill comes we see they have charged us 10 euros for each way. The lady is nomore available and the guy at the reception refuses that it is even possible that she could've told so.

And it is nowhere near Rome and the people at the tourist information desks at the termini station refuse to tell you how to get there as it is not in Rome. It is more than an hour's journey by train from the Rome termini station and then a further 20-25 minutes by car. There is no public transport available at the place where the hotel is except for their shuttle which won't start till 8.30am and which stops at 8.30pm.

Our flight was at 11.40am for which we had to get to the airport at 9.40am. But the hotel people said they can't drop us at the airport. They gave the number of the only private taxi service they knew of. That taxi driver said he will not be free after 5.45 am. So if we wanted to go to the airport with him we would have to go at 5.45am for the flight which was at 11.40 am. The hotel guy gave us two choices - either go with that guy at 5.45 am or forget about catching that flight. So we, with our four year old daughter and a hell lot of luggage go to the airport at 5.45am and wait there till 11.40am.

We saw that, at 5.45a.m there was breakfast served on the table. So we asked them to let us have the breafast which we had already paid for. Also because we didn't want our daughter to starve. But they refused to give us breakfast because they didn't want anyone to eat till 7am. If we want to leave before that, even if the breakfast is served we can't eat, even if we have paid for it.

After hearing this, how would you rate this hotel? We have to say,