Elle Boutique Hotel — Hotel in Rome

I was very happy with my room on the top floor. See pictures. It’s the only room with a jacuzzi out on the terrace. Every night I sat there taking in St. Peter’s dome. You want find another room like this so close to St. Peter’s. Love having a window in my shower. The room also had numerous lighting options to play with. Do not bother packing a hair dryer because the one in the room is the best I’ve ever used! Lots of volume and my hair was so silky. ||Staff were very accommodating with luggage, breakfast to order, (expensive though), getting a cab is super quick. Whatever we needed they took care of it all you had to do was ask. ||My only complaint is that they control the temperature for the jacuzzi. It was a bit cool at night and with the lid off the water eventually starts to cool. I did ask them to turn it up the next night, which they did however, after sitting in there for an hour the temperature was to my liking, but I do prefer it super hot. ||The breakfast was a huge spread of anything and everything you could want. Kind of surprising considering how small the eating area is but they fit all kinds of food. The pastries were fresh from some nearby bakery and superbly decadent. Some goods baked in house. However you wanted your eggs it was all cooked to order. Everything from fish and cheese for the Europeans to the basics for us simple Canadians. You’ll leave for your day on a full happy tummy! The kitchen guy was the only staff member where we had to improvise a little to communicate with but he understood enough to cook what you wanted. ||The bed is nice and soft, but with proper firmness. Plenty of hot water in the shower. I happen to have the same tv at home so I was able to figure out how to switch what was on the tv to English. If it was a movie that was done in English then it was just a matter of navigating the settings. I like to fall asleep to the tv so I appreciated that feature. The room also has an extensive mini bar that anyone would be content with. The coffee and espresso were very yummy! They also had a huge area for clothes that could easily accommodate a couple. ||O, I guess I have 2 complaints. I just remembered the size of the safe. Can’t even fit an iPad in it. So I just left mine in my bag. Room service was in every day. No issues. ||There is a very tiny elevator which was perfect for my aunt to get to the second floor. Her room is the biggest in house. Massive bed, big desk, mini bar, huge double sink and big shower too. Her room faced the same way as mine so she also had a view of St. Peter’s dome from her bedroom window. ||The location is a little different. It’s on the north side of the basilica where all the restaurants and shopping are. Elle is located on the other side. There are still restaurants within walking distance. The Boncaffe across the street had yummy sandwiches and Papa Rex down the street had good pizza too. ||In short, if you need something just ask. 😉 Great...

We booked this hotel 2 days before arrival as a last minute treat for our anniversary. We were due to arrive in this Hotel on Friday, 21st October 2022 at 2pm. Due to an air traffic strike in Rome, we received confirmation before noon on Thursday, 20th October that our flights were cancelled and could not fly into Rome. No payments had been made as of yet to the Hotel, my husband after trying to secure alternative flights contacted the Hotel immediately to cancel and explained our situation and that we could not get into the country. To my astonishment the hotel cited their cancellation policy and proceeded to immediately charge the full €928 for the 2 night stay. Their cancellation policy clearly states that a free cancellation is possible up to 24hrs in advance of time of checkin, however they responded and said it actually meant from midnight on day of arrival! After appealing this response we were told it was “not their fault and that was their policy”. It was not Ryanair’s fault either, or Dublin Airport, yet they immediately refunded 100% of the costs of our flight and car parking/fast-track services with no quibble. I enquired about this via email and said my review of the Hotels customer service would not be great because of this experience and how they handled this unexpected scenario. The Hotel responded by saying "by you threatening our Hotel and using the review system as a weapon frankly speaks very poorly of your intentions." This really shocked me, the review system is there for a reason, i know the Italian traffic strike is out of their hands, but under the circumstances of charging us the full €928 AFTER we cancel surely this is not ethical in this industry, nor should a guest receive an email of this nature. Both couples we were travelling with received a full refund from their Hotel stay in Rome, so all was not lost. I’m sure by their normal response of other not so good reviews on their Hotel it will be apparent that excellent customer care is not their forté, and passion for this industry is lost. These are the facts and regardless of how the hotel responds Greed is King here, very disappointed in how they handled this. After losing such a significant amount of hard earned cash we were left with no choice but to stay local for our Anniversary. Be careful not to fall foul of these unscrupulous hotels and their made up policies. So disheartening. Please remember they only charged us AFTER...

Usually I don’t put a ton of thought into where I stay, especially with a last minute trip to a place I’ve never been, and had no real agenda when I got there (the gf was already there and had some time off so I flew out). That being said what a nice surprise. The place is a sanctuary after walking into thousands of people all day every day, complete with a relaxing water feature and small, quiet courtyard. It’s right outside one of the Vatican gates, along with guards with machine guns so the area is fairly safe. This is one of the quieter, residential areas of Rome; it can get loud but it’s not packed, and the restaurants and services (laundromat, grocery store, etc) are about as good as one could ask for. It’s maybe a ten minute walk to the Ottaviano M stop—straight through the historic St Peter’s Square—which puts you close enough to the sites if you want to visit via train (which is easier than you think). The staff was quite accommodating to boot. The only problem we had was with our AC system, which refused to turn off (but I like it colder so I wasn’t complaining). I read the Irish gal’s review and can completely sympathize, but could apply to any situation or hotel, just be careful of international travel overall I guess. All in all this place was a really...