Hotel Varese Roma — Hotel in Rome

3 Stars for a 3 Star Hotel

Let me start off my review by explaining we are Americans with some European travel experience and realize hotels in Europe are much different than hotels in the US. But we are not well versed in the differences between a 3 star, 4 star and 5 star hotel.

For others looking for a hotel to stay while visiting Rome without breaking the bank here is our experience of Hotel Varese.

Although conveniently located to Termini station please realize that Termini station is very large which means you could be as little as .25 miles or as much as .75 miles from the hotel so be aware.

Termini station is a huge hub for the city and with any large city that means it draws a unique crowd. There are homeless and beggars all around that area. We found that the areas surrounding Termini station can change very quickly depending on the direction you travel away from it. Hotel Varese, from our perspective, was in the no so pleasant area surrounding the train station. There was trash on the ground and the area did not feel as “nice” as other nearby areas. (see pictures of trash, trash cans, and graffiti which was present during our entire 3 night stay)

The hotel room was nothing fancy but got the job done for a place to sleep. There was very little in terms of clothes storage except for a rod to hang clothes with just four hangers along with a few cubbies. No wardrobe or dresser to allow you to fully unpack - not even a stand for your suitcase .

The bathroom had a similar storage issue with very little, if any, available area to unpack your bathroom stuff. The shower was a handheld shower with an adjustable height but the cord for the shower head was not long enough to fully extend the shower head to the highest setting (see picture). I am 5’11” and I had to crouch under the shower head when showering. We also found that the temperature of the water when showering would fluctuate greatly from warm/hot to very very hot and then back.

There was a TV but there were no English speaking channels and no ability to stream shows (no ability to cast to the tv).

We did not find the room to be very clean either (see pictures of cobwebs, dust, dirt & mildew). The AC dripped due to condensation build up and when we wiped the floor dry the towel was filthy. Corners of the room were dirty and dusty.

Lights in the bathroom were motion sensored with no ability to manually turn them on or off. That meant when you got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom the light would stay on for about 20 minutes before turning off.

Sometimes we found the motion sensor lights in the hall approaching our room would not detect us requiring us to use our cell phone flashlights to make it down the dark hall to our room.

Breakfast was included and was a nice touch to our stay. The food was good, not great. The coffee was ok. We found better options outside the hotel even though we had to pay for it - but the quality of food was far better elsewhere. The staff was friendly and accommodated English speakers well.

Overall it was a place to stay. Nothing special from our experience. The included breakfast and USB ports above the nightstands were the nicest part of our stay. Convenient location to Termini station was nice. We hope this helps you with...

Not sure how this hotel is rated so high. Booked my stay based on the "positive" reviews. First impression when arriving to the hotel was an empty reception desk with nobody around except the custodian. Once the receptionist made her way to the front desk she couldn't log on the computer and then had to scramble through paperwork to confirm the reservation. Was given the standard "we upgraded your room" talk and was told to pay the tourist tax up front. They also prefer this is done in cash as the credit card company eats up 1.5% of the fees. Arrived to the "upgraded" room which was on the first floor by the stairs to the main reception area. Room was a decent size with peel and stick vinyl tiles that you can go skating on and literally feel the glue unstick after each step . The rooms and hallways are also very dark with no natural light. After being in the room for about an hour it was noticeable that the AC was not working properly (it was blowing neutral air). Informed the receptionist who was busy vaping at the front door and she said she will get maintenance to look at it ASAP but was also told "we have 2 fans on site to use just in case it doesn't get fixed". Maintenance did come and determined the AC needed to be repaired. Was offered two new room options which were downgraded rooms from the original one; however, the AC was working perfectly fine in them. Breakfast seemed chaotic (server dropped off the food and never returned to see if anything else was needed) with a few menu items you can order a la carte (breads , pastry, cold scrambled eggs, coffee). The hotel is next to Termini station which is about the only good thing it has going for it. If you are looking for a place to sleep for a night then this will be a good option but wouldn't recommend it for more than a day as there are better places in the city that will definitely exceed your expectations for about...

A sad ending to our 16 day trip to Italy. This was the only hotel that offered us a sub-standard room. We were given room 23, hidden in the back end of the hotel, in a different building. You need to walk through a series of corridors past the breakfast area, past the laundry room and then through a corridor that is actually outside the building but covered so you wouldn't notice and then into the rear building where you will find rooms 18 through 23.

The room is on the ground floor. The flooring is uneven vinyl flooring that is wavy and makes contact with the door to the room when you open it. The room is musty and the A/C struggles to suffice. Our floor was wet in front of the window upon our arrival. There is not one wall in this room that isn't damaged or simply disgusting. Moldy walls painted over, musty smell. Same goes with the shower area and due to the design of the shower without any door or curtain and being at the same level as the floor the whole bathroom becomes a wading pool. The insulation within the room is also very poor as we could clearly hear our neighbors showering.

This is a shame because the staff here were very friendly and the service when we arrived was excellent. They kept our bags since we arrived early and offered us a free coffee and cornetto. The front desk staff was helpful with suggestions and directions. The breakfast was ok, you need to book a time slot due to limited availability. We met the deputy director of the hotel at breakfast and told him about our displeasure with the room. We checked out later that morning and they covered the city tax for us. We were told we should have brought up our concerns the night before and they would have switched our rooms but my question is why even give this room to clients if you have other rooms available? Avoid rooms 14 thru 23. We were very disappointed in Hotel Varese and I cannot...