My boss is attending a conference in Rome this summer. She wants to take her mother, a devote Catholic, along for a trip of a lifetime. Her mother is asthmatic, so she is very concerned about European hotels and their lack of working air conditioning. Your suggestions are really appreciated. Thanks.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
If you book a four or five star hotel you will have no problems with AC.
Posted by
Dallas
1022 posts
I empathize with you. Your boss or your boss' mother (not sure which) has some vague concern about AC in Rome hotels, so you get stuck with checking it out. I suggest you go on venere.com and other sites which take reviews only from people who have booked through the site and read the reviews. If any complain of AC, then avoid them. You'll find many good hotels without any such complaints. Then the decision is where to stay. I suggest central Rome where the historic sites are easy to reach.
Posted by
Alta Loma, CA, USA
1446 posts
Would your boss consider an apartment? We stayed in the Palazzo Olivia apartments near Piazza Navona (about as central as you can get) and it was a great experience. First off, the apartment building has an elevator which not all do & the apartment had air conditioning and ceiling fans which worked extremely well. My husband is very heat sensitive and we had no problems with the A/C. An apartment will afford more space than a hotel room and it had a little kitchenette which was nice; we bought bottles of water and snacks and stocked them in the fridge for the next day. It was handy to have a refrigerator. The rate was reasonable and the location could not be beat. It's right around the corner from a taxi stand, bus stops, banks, restaurants, etc.
The web site is: http://www.palazzo-olivia.it/ Also check the reviews on TripAdvisor.
Posted by
OP
Nashville, TN, USA
2 posts
You all are wonderful! I appreciate your replies. Of course the interesting thing about readers comments, often problems with hotels can be tricky and unique situation. The same hotel might have people who praise the a/c, but another traveler had a broken one the next week. Over all, it looks like most hotels have modern and working amenities. I really appreciate the apartment referral--those are the hardest to gauge sight unseen. Thanks.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
It's often unbelievably sultry and just plain hot in Rome in the summer. AC that works will be appreciated by the mother in this case.
Posted by
Madison, WI, USA
153 posts
Some complaints may be attributable to confusion (whether they knew it or not). Most places in Italy will require you to have a key card in the room to activate the A/C, some will even require you to request the A/C to be activated before it will work. Since this is a concern, just be sure the hotel has A/C (it should in Rome) and make sure they inquire into it's proper operation.
Posted by
Rome
27 posts
you see we in Europe did not invented AC yet.... Probably you will think Italy is still 3rd world country? Geeee... how ignorant you can be people
Posted by
Cesena, Italy
791 posts
Dragan, Things are different in the US. Hotels have heater/AC units that are controlled by the guest. If I want it 60 degrees in my room in the middle of winter I can do it. There are no laws of when heat or a/c can be turned on. Also, the settings are different here. I've not run across any AC unit that goes lower than 16 degrees celcius which I think is somewhere around 70 degrees which works ok if you're in a tiny room but something large with high ceilings it does'nt really work that well. While most Italians shun the AC in the middle of the summer heat most Americans are used to being able to set their air much cooler. The best room I ever had for AC was in Trapani in the middle of July. Unit kept the room to where it wasn't miserable but it wasn't like I like it. You'll also find alot of people complain about getting rooms with non functioning AC units. I've not had the misfortune of that yet but have had some that were struggling to work and it made it somewhat miserable to stay in.
While you could say"just find another hotel" that would be valid but when you're in another country and don't speak the language, don't have a car, don't know your way around and are most likely in an area where/when it's high tourist season getting another room can sound easier than it is.
Posted by
Edmond, Oklahoma, USA
13 posts
We were in the same situation several years ago. We stayed at a 2-star with a great location just a block or two from the Colosseum and Forum, cold air conditioning, and breakfast included which they did not have in a common area but asked you the night before what you wanted from a menu and brought it to your room at your requested time. People at the desk were very helpful also. I just checked the website and it is still there, so it is a possibility for you. downtownaccomodation.com