Every year at end-April my wife and I attend the annual plant and flower show at the nearby Landriana Gardens, and this is the second consecutive year we stayed at the Hotel Selene, from the 21st to the 26th of April. This is kind of an update on my TA review of 2009. This year I booked an executive room which turned out to be more of a junior suite. Room 122 was wonderful, comfortable, quiet, and had all the amenities one would expect in a four-star hotel. On entry, there were two huge wardrobes on the right (one with a extra-large combination safe), and in front the living area consisting of a comfortable couch, two tables, desk and fridge. There was a floor to ceiling divider separating the living and sleeping areas (with a flat screen TV that swiveled between the two areas). The latter had a king-size bed and two night-stands. To the right of the bed was a huge bathroom with sliding doors. It had the wash basin, toilet, bidet, jacuzzi bathtub and a separate shower. Hair dryer, toilet amenities, fluffy towels, bathrobe and slippers. Two doors led from the living and sleeping areas out onto a narrow terrace. The view across the restaurant roof wasn't spectacular but we weren't there for the views. The advantage was there was no road or parking lot noise. I paid €189 each for two week-day nights and only €69 each for three weekend nights (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), including buffet breakfast.
The breakfast was good but nothing special. Dinner on the other hand was great. The pasta dishes, meat and fish dishes we tried were all very, very good and the house wine was very drinkable. Our full meals including dessert and wine came to around €60-70.00 for the two of us. The restaurant director was very attentive to our needs and the waiter we had (Flavio) was outstanding - friendly, conversant, and extremely professional. It was interesting watching the kitchen staff at work though the open serving window. They seem to make a well-rounded team. Coffee or after dinner drinks at the hotel's bar was the perfect way to end the evening before retiring.
The hotel has a huge tree-shaded parking area in front, and a lovely park in the rear with a huge swimming pool which would be wonderful in the summer.
Besides the flower and plant show, we did a lot of shopping in the local area. There are two huge shopping centres (malls) within a ten minute drive of the hotel and two great hardware-do-it-yourself centres in Pomezia on the via del Mare which I enjoyed particularly. A new McArthur-Glen outlet with 110 name-brand stores is only about 5 km to the north. Culturally, the Lavinium archaelogical museum at Pratica di Mare was well-worth visiting. We had lunch one day at one of our favourite restaurants, the "L'Antico Borgo" (Taverna Lavinia) in the old medaevil village of Pratica di Mare. Great!
Pomezia and the Hotel Selene aren't convenient to Rome but make an excellent base for touring the southern Rome province.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC