Jolly Hotel Villacarpegna Rome

Great hotel, good breakfast, very nice rooom, albeit a little small and really comfortable bed (which rates highly in my book!). I was disappointed to find I couldn't book my first choice of hotels, only to save money by staying at this one, and enjoy a really good stay here.

One piece of advice, this hotel is really hard to find when you arrive in Rome, and public transport is the best way to get there as the taxis are expensive. Use the buses from St Peters square, if I remember correctly it's the 881 or 94/95? Get off at the Piazza Pio IX, and it's just around the corner from there. Trying to find a map of that area is not easy either, so good luck.

Otherwise, I'd recommend you stay here, you get good value for money.

THE HOTEL ? The Jolly Hotel Villa Carpegna is located west of the Vatican City. It is probably not the right hotel for somebody who prefers to reside within walking distance of the main tourist attractions, however, there are buses going to Plaza Venezia and to the nearest metro station on a regular basis. I don't mind using public transportation, and as we saved at least 20 ? 30 Euro per night in comparison to other 4* hotels we looked at, it was well worth the train and bus rides. You can buy 3 day and 7 day passes to use in all buses and metros. Right next to the hotel you will find the park "Villa Doria Pamphili".THE ROOM ? Our room was located in the first floor of the building and offered quite a nice view on the surroundings of the hotel. The room was not extremely big, but big enough for two people and featured a really comfortable double bed, a safe, tv (english programs, too), good air conditioning and a nice bathroom with bath tub incl. a shower. Both the room and the bathroom were in excellent shape and kept very clean.THE STAFF ? We found the staff very polite. They were very helpful in everything that had to do with getting around Rome ? incl. explaining the nearby bus lines to us and helping with reservations. Everybody had a very friendly way of dealing with the guests, which should be standard in every hotel, but is not ? that's why I am mentioning it here. I felt very welcomed.THE BREAKFAST ? It was included in our room price. We have had better breakfasts in other hotels, but that's not to say this wasn't good. There was different kinds of breads, cereals, jams. Honey, scrambled eggs & bacon, salami, turkey and ham. Also fruit and sweet croissants. What I didn't like about the breakfast was that usually something was missing and it took the staff quite long to refill it. I also didn't like that the fruit was not fresh but canned. But oh well. Still a pretty good start into the day. Never left me hungry. The coffee was good ? soooo good....OVERALL REVIEW ? If you are able to book the promotional rate (we booked through expedia, but it's also offered on the hotel website) you could get a 4* star hotel with a pretty good standard for the price of a 3* hotel. I'd totally recommend the hotel, even if it is a little further away from the main attractions. I'd book it again. It was a good deal!

Jolly hotels often vary much in quality, but the Jolly Hotel Villa Carpegna deserves a mention. I'm staying there for 8 months since may2003 (on average of 3-4 days a week = 130 nights circa), and I guess I developed an "informed" opinion.*Location*: New 2-yrs old, 3-storey large building located on a low hill, in a nice garden with eye-catching outdoor swim.pool, very tranquil and silent environment.

within walking distance to Villa Pamphili (huge park).5-7 mins taxi to St.Peter, 15 mins taxi to via del corso (core downtown)*Rooms*: Standard acceptable size all identical(dont expect large suites). Some have very nice view on the outdoor pool and surrounding roman hills.

All with thick fitted carpet, very clean and silent. Fully equipped with TV-set (20 channels, cnn, skytv and bbc in english), minibar, 2 telephone sets (one in bathroom), dial-up internet access (if you have your own laptop) now also LAN and WI-FI access from rooms (costs 10 euro/hour). 1 Closet for up to 5 suits, trousers ironing device.

Sufficient space around to put luggage items. Very efficient and silent air conditioning (3 manual speeds+auto). Bathrooms are very clean (I really value this one), floor, walls and tub made of beige marble. Very satisfying and new tub/shower system from Grohe (leader of market) with good/high water pressure. Dont' have to wait long for hot water.

Bathrooms with good hairdryer. One loudspeaker to hear tv-music.*Facilities*: nice summer swim.pool (open 10am to 6pm), free indoor and outdoor parking (always easy to find a parking place), 1 pc station for free internet access (it's enough to request their free hotel miles card).*Staff*: kind and helpful (above average)*Overall* : Very good rating with a reasonable price (unexpensive for his level)