This has to be the worst hotel in Rome! I have never stayed in such a dirty, smelly place where the staff are rude, miserable looking and totally disinterested in their guests. Firstly, the room we stayed in was disgusting, painted 30 years ago in a bright green colour with brown stained ceiling tiles to finish off the "wonderful" decor and interior design! The room was the size of a large closet and the bathroom the size of a coffin. Oh yes the bathroom.....now this was a prime example of Italian ingenuity. The walls had 3 different types of wall tiles glued all over the place including the floor......honestly I have seen better public toilets than this. The shower screen door was missing its handle so you couldnt slide the door open or closed. Best of all was the room fronted onto a large light well which was shared by private residences on the opposite side...great except when the resident Italians start screaming at each other all night and early in the morning. The staff were rude and disinterested especially the manager who only cared about getting his Euros for the rooom. Having said that, I must at least compliment the breakfast that was served. It was one of the best I have ever had in Rome. Overall the hotel is over priced for what you get and the area it is in around the termini is extremely dangerous at night....so beware.

What a shocker! Don't stay here. How photos can be made to lie! This place is well and truly overpriced. The rooms are miniscule and have grungie old breadspreads and drapes and fuddie duddie wardrobe, bedhead and mirror. The soft furnishings should have been retired more than 10 years ago, and they still would have got their full write-down on them. Nothing like the very modern and arty hotel that it pretends to be on its website. The bed was worn out and hard like a slab of marble. And the pillows were pancakes. The hotel spent all is money on renovating the entrance and bar, making them modern and funky. Sadly, very little money has been spent on the rooms and none on the truly dreadful bathrooms. Worst of all was the claustrophobic size. It was smaller than most mausoleums. The staff were not terribly interested or helpful. As for plusses, well the breakfast was nice and the hotel provided free soft drinks in the room. Rome is known for ripping off its tourists, however you can do better than this hotel.

I have stayed in many hotels, but this is the worst I have ever stayed at. We arrived at the Hotel (should be called a hostel) at 10:30pm after a flight from London to be greeted by a guest, who was obviously upset about something, having an argument with reception staff (it reminded us of something out of Jerry Springer). We should have taken the hint, and walked straight back out the door and stayed elsewhere. After the irate guest had stormed off we were in the process of booking in when we were told that the lifts were not working and unfortunately we were on the top floor. The reception staff tried to play down the problem by saying that they had a porter to help with a couple of the bags, but asked if we were okay to carry the rest of the luggage. They gave us no option but to cart the 3 x 25kgs bags + hand luggage up the stairs with the help of one other person (the poor porter, who had obviously been carting guests bags up the stairs all day, was drenched in sweat and looked like he was about to have a heart attack). For this inconvenience they provided the 3 of us with a cocktail voucher for use at the bar next to the lobby, but when we tried to use the voucher the next day they said it had expired and could only be used the day before. The bar staff were very rude and arrogant and would not accept the vouchers even after we explained the situation and why we were given the vouchers. I spoke to reception and they just said that we should have asked if they expired... We were all just in shock at how unprofessional and arrogant all the staff were. To cap things off, we returned to our hotel after a days site seeing the next day, and found that there was no water in our room to either shower or flush the toilet. We contacted reception and they did not apologise but stated that the water would be back on later. We were given no notice that we would not have water for an entire aftenoon and evening. The rooms were disgusting and the decor in our room was like something out of the 70s. There was paint off walls and the rooms smelt like mould. The beds and matresses were in very poor condition and if the carpet wasn't so filthy I would have chosen to sleep on the floor. Don't get fooled by the lovely modern rooms that are displayed on the website!! All of them have not been renovated. Also, the location of the hotel is in one of the most unappealing areas of Rome. Don't walk around at night on your own as it is very unsafe and even our taxi driver warned us about the area and said that pick pocketing around the hotel and train station occurred regularly. The best part of the hotel was the exit door and knowing that once I walked out of it I would never have to stay in such a pathetic ghetto slum ever again..

My husband and I stayed at the Ariston because he had a business meeting that had been scheduled there. Most of the members of the group also stayed there, and here's what I figured out about the wide discrepancies of the reviews: if you get the deluxe rooms, they are chic and modern, and you will probably be happy w/ your experience. Several of us who did not get the deluxe rooms were initially put in dark and depressing rooms, with windows that let in no light because the shutters couldn't be opened and they looked out to an air shaft. Those who asked to be moved were accommodated after the first day. We were moved to a room that faced the street, which was larger, brighter, more cheerful. The rug was stained and outdated, but the bed was comfortable and spacious, the bathroom and rest of the room was clean and kept that way throughout our stay. HOWEVER, there was one couple who had reserved a deluxe room but were given the same rooms as ours. Of course, they did not realize until later that they had not been given a deluxe room. Not clear if this was an issue w/ the on-line booking (I think they booked thru booking.com). So, before you get the key to your room, ask that it have a window facing the street, and know what you paid for. In terms of the meeting space, the room was initially set up incorrectly (again, not clear whose fault that was). The room was on the 6th floor, and leaked during particularly heavy rains. The breakfasts were great, the best we had in Italy. The daytime front desk staff were particularly helpful and warm, made arrangements for dinners, tours, inquired about our experience afterwards. All of the staff we encountered tried their best to be helpful, even if their command of English limited them. The neighborhood is wonderful for convenience in getting around because of how close to the train station it is, but somewhat seedy at night. I felt like I might have been less comfortable staying there if I had been on my own.

We stayed at the ARISTON from Easter Monday to Friday 2008. I cannot find any negative comments to make. The staff were all friendly, helpful and polite. We used the reception desk as if it were tourist information and all advice given to us was good. We even booked our taxis here and all the vehicles were prompt, reasonably priced and clean. The breakfast dining room was modern, kept constantly clean and the breakfast selection was excellent. They even provided bacon and eggs for the Brits! And boiling water for tea! Both these items are a rarity in Italian hotels. Our room, 346, was clean, spacious, had a free minibar(soft drinks) and a huge comfortable bed made up as a double as we requested. The hotel is well placed for all the major sights and attractions and we found if you book in advance to be excellent value for money. On our last morning the hotel manager personally asked us if we had enjoyed our stay.