The Duke Hotel

Let's see, where do I even begin? Chronologically, I guess.

Check-in:
We booked this hotel--for our 3-year anniversary, no less--through HotelTonight. Upon arrival after a long drive from Modena and stressful drive through Rome, we were rudely told they could not find our reservation and that the hotel was full. We were able to get it sorted out through the lovely service of HotelTonight. It was not The Duke Hotel's fault but the front desk man was still rather rude and unapologetic--so much for hospitality. Also, if the hotel was full, how did we suddenly get a room? Hmmm....

Room:
The A/C was broken and only after multiple calls to the front desk, did maintenance finally come up to "fix it." He even patronizingly said not to touch it afterwards, as though we broke it!! Oh, and by "fix it," I meant the fan started working but by no means did cool air come out of that vent--ugh. By the time we realized it was not getting cooler, it was close to midnight and we were too tired to lug all our suitcases back down and find a new hotel. Did I mention how stressful it is driving through Rome?? Is that what the man meant when he said the hotel was fully booked? All the fully operational rooms were booked?! Ugh...would've much rather gotten our refund and found a hotel earlier in the night if so.

Shower:
Rusty drain. Moldy corner. I wish I had taken a photo. The worst part though? Rather than have the shower head aim the length of the tub, as all normal ones do, this one aimed down the width of the tub, causing the shower curtain to billow and spraying water all over the bathroom floor. Fuhhhhhh!

Breakfast:
New morning, new staff, new service, right? Nope. Breakfast was supposedly 7a-11a, but upon arrival the first morning at 10:30a, we were the only ones there, given no welcome, and given death stares from the staff, who cleared things away AS WE WERE EATING. They certainly did not take our coffee order either (the sign clearly stated that cappuccinos and espressos were part of the breakfast buffet).

2nd/final morning, we arrived earlier, around 9:30, as we were itching to get out of the shitty hotel. There were other patrons there, however, still no "Prego" or "Buongiorno" from the staff, and certainly no taking of our coffee orders either, though I waited patiently and watched as they took orders from 2 other tables. Are they racist or something??????

Note that our stay in Rome was part of a larger European vacation and it was not our first city in Italy, so we had other (much better) experiences to compare to. Suffice to say, I would never come back to The Duke Hotel nor recommend it to anyone I know.

The Duke Hotel has my favorite lounge of all the Roma Hotels I've stayed at. The lounge is spread out and the chairs are very comfortable as you take a break from work or vacation. The one down side of The Duke is that it is no where near the main areas of Roma's well known attraction but they do have a shuttle system that drops you off a couple blocks away from the Spanish Steps.

Food wise their restaurant serves some very good hand made fresh pappardelle pasta. Some of the best pasta Ive eaten in Roma. The have an all you can eat breakfast buffet which is almost necessary as there is nothing really close within walking distance to eat at. The suite I had was comfortable but like all Italian hotels I've stayed at things are more lean then I'm use to from the bed to the bathroom. Overall buona hotel and good service.

I loved this hotel. Work had a meeting in Rome and they arranged for our large group to stay here. I found the staff to be largely courteous and helpful (the one time I raised my eyebrows involved the calling/cancelling of a taxi). Anyway, the rooms are decently-sized by European standards. The bathrooms up-to-date. And the public areas are so beautifully decorated. Also the food is good! Our first night dinner was arranged in the hotel and it was delicious. Subsequent mornings I always enjoyed the bountiful breakfast. It's really quite a spread and they will make you espresso or cappuccino if you ask. Also when the staff is in the mood, they may even sometimes open up the bar (as reported by some lucky colleagues of mine)!

Now for some slight drawbacks. Indeed as some previous irate reviewers protested, the hotel beds are harder than even the usual American "firm". I slept just fine though, but I can see how it would totally suck if you couldn't adjust to the firmness. Also, although I did say their bathroom is rather decent, it is cramped. I'm not a big person and even I felt showering was not comfortable. Lastly their wifi is not good. Also, the hotel is not near city-center. They do provide free shuttles that pick up and drop off at Piazza de Popolo.

So, let me begin by saying this hotel was not selected by my own choice. It was part of a group deal. Now with that said, the exterior looks great. If you like boutique hotels this might be for you. However, most Americans would not. Why? All the beds are like freaking BRICKS!! AND I'M NOT JOKING. If your on vacation one of the most important aspects is to enjoy your room and sleep. I have been here 5 days now and I have not had one good night of sleep. I wake up every morning with a back ache. I'm very disappointed. The one good thing is they have a free breakfast every morning and it's pretty good. The morning staff is awesome and Laura has been awesome.

The Duke Hotel is pretty nice! They have a wide variety for breakfast! (: Yummy!! My favorite juice is the pinkish orange one that's labeled vitamin C!

The rooms are spacious, but there's bugs and spiders in the rooms and bathrooms... But other than that, it's pretty nice. There's a balcony with a small table and two chairs for you to sit and enjoy the weather.

In the bathroom, there's a toilet and a urinal. So interesting, lol

There's free wifi for 24 hours!

Also, the keys are super HEAVY. And every time you leave the hotel, you have to give them the keys. And you'll pick up your keys from the front desk when you return.

We stayed in a family room (2 adjoining rooms) with our children, ages 8 & 14. It is a quaint hotel and as an overall choice, very good. The breakfast each morning is included and has a delicious variety. The lounge in the evening is very nice to return to. Staff speaks excellent English and very helpful. Shuttle is great just make sure you reserve a spot. Overall great value for the money.

There is so much that I can say about this hotel. I will start and finish with DO NOT STAY HERE. DONT make a reservation thinking that you will have a good or better experience. You wont.

Spent the last week in Rome and LOVED this hotel. Day staff and drivers are GREAT! The breakfast is amazing as well so much to choose from. Our room was clean and spacious I actually think you could have people hang out in the bathroom thats how big it is. There were only a few downfalls of this hotel which is why I'm only giving it 3 stars, where as if it wasnt for these things it would have gotten 5.

First off the wifi is fast and FREE! Totally awesome except you need to connect through this site that makes you enter a phone number to receive a text message of your 24 hour username and password. Sounds easy enough UNLESS you have your actually service turned off so you don't receive crazy international data rates or you are trying to connect via your computer where you also can't receive a text. So if you can't get a text they ask you to call the front desk tell them your number and they will send up someone with your info. The only thing is that you have to do it between 9am-7pm or they are unable to give you your code till the following day which seems like no biggy but if you stay more than one day and you actually want to go out and see Rome and you're not at the hotel when your 24 hours expires you cant get a new one. Total pain in the butt especially because the hotel is so out of the way. Which brings me to my second point...

...This hotel is amazing but it is definitely out of the way! They do have a shuttle that takes you to and from Piaza Del Popolo every 30 minutes or so but unless you have your entire day planned and know exactly when you will be coming and going it is sort of a pain to get back. You are told by the front desk you can call from town to be picked up but Rome has this problem where absolutely NO public phones work so don't waste your money like we did feeding it to these useless machines. The first day when we finally got back after giving up and taking a taxi we actually had a woman at the front desk laugh at us like we were stupid for trying to use the payphones (a bit rude but tolerable)

The WORST thing about this hotel is what happened to us on the last night.

We had booked our trip for 3 nights at the Duke and later decided we were going to extend our trip an extra night and the only way to do this before arriving was to due so on a seperate reservation over the internet. When we got there we informed the front desk we had done so to make sure we wouldn't have to be moved the last night The main desk agent told us it would be no problem and made a note of it. Right then he also took both of our passports and photo copied them together. So when the last night came we were in bed quite early cause we had to be at the airport the following morning at 6. At about 12:30AM we were woken up by a phone call from the front desk telling us that we had to IMMEDIATELY bring down a copy of just MY passport because they didn't have record of it because the previous desk agent "fogot". Pretty much 100% unacceptable to wake up your guests past midnight for your own staffs mistake. When I asked him to explain because I was frazzled and confused as to the urgency he told me that if someone was to come in and start kidnapping people or bombed the hotel they would have no record of us being there. (Not what you say to your guests) So I reluctantly got out of bed grabbed my passport and went down stairs I also brought the passport of the other guest in the room because I remember seeing the first day that they photo copied them on the same sheet so if mine was missing hers would be too BUT it wasn't which makes no sense. When I was a bit frustrated with the whole situation the guy at the front was a total A**hole about it. Saying that we werent aloud to be a bit upset because we werent the first people and he had already been yelled at by other guests. I feel for the guy but you should be over apologetic when waking people on vacation up in the middle of the night. Not rude.

Anyways day staff is amazing and besides a few hiccups I would recommend this hotel if youre looking for something out of the way and well kept.

TIP: There is a Western Union right in the place you are dropped off and you can use the phones in there for about 0.15 Euro to call the hotel to be picked up.

TIP: Cappucinos and Lattes at breakfast are free but nobody will tell you that you just need to ask for them get them while you are at breakfast cause otherwise they are 4.50 Euro at any other time in the hotel. YIKES!

The staff at the Duke were wonderful and accommodating. The free breakfast was delicious and a great way to start the day. The evening dining was as well delicious and wine selection adequate.

Enjoy staying at this hotel, it didn't look much from the exterior but it was really grant inside with the Victorian style furniture and wall painting. Me and my sisters took lots of interior pictures. This hotel is situated in the residential area but they offer shuttle bus so it makes it convenience for us. Breakfast is included and they have a good variety, the hostess Laura was super friendly and always have a smile on her face. Would recommend this hotel to my friends if they ever come to visit Rome.