dingo

My money says that if you keep checking daily, something else will open up around your dates. I stretched three into seven with no special phone calls save for some help from an FT'er.

ntamayo

Just got off the phone with the reservations desk, and they mentioned that the Flora is currently "undergoing renovation."

Anyone know what type of remodeling is being done, and the best rooms to request in this situation?

dingo

Saw no signs when I was there in mid-June.

NeoOfTheCRS

Does anyone know if the hotel has a rental car desk? Are there any rental locations nearby especially with Hertz??

dingo

There wasn't a desk there. Not sure what the itinerary is, but there is no way I'd have wanted a rental car in Rome. The first thing we saw when we walked out of Termini was a city bus hit a car, stop, look, drive away. If you're looking to drive in the city, you don't need one and you'll likely kill several scooter drivers. Why do you want a car? Don't mean to pry...just looking to help out.

NeoOfTheCRS

Perfectly good question. Want to head out to the countryside and visit some really small towns. . .relatives out there.

I don't have any real burning need to rent in Rome, will probably take the train out of town, but would want to drive back and return the car in Rome. I guess termini.

dingo

Sounds like a great reason. I wish I had relatives in Italy. Heck, I'd settle for acquaintances in Italy. I'd settle for someone who knows someone that I know actually.

DENROC

Am not aware of a Hertz office in the area but EuropeCar has an office location across the street from the hotel about a block away. Very convenient if you want to rent a car for a trip to the Italian countryside and north.

DFW DL

There is an Avis office about 4-5 blocks east of the Flora on via Sardegna. Hertz has an office in the "Park Si" Villa Borghese garage, which may be accessed through the Metro entrance just across the street from the Flora (about a 5 min walk).

Driving in Italy requires nerves of steel but isn't that bad once you get used to it. You have to make sure you know exactly how wide your car is, that it has really good brakes, and to never make eye contact with any other driver or pedestrian (which implies your permission for them to cut you off).

The Flora is actually pretty well situated for getting out of Central Rome by car - via Salaria begins just north of the hotel and it's one of the fastest routes to the ring road (GRA) from the center.

KathyP

I spent 5 nights there from 9/15-9/20 on points. In my opinion the hotel is at the level that it is at (a 6 or a 7) because of where it is not because of the amenities of the hotel itself. Is it worth the points? Yes I would say so because of the price of hotels in Rome. THe lobby is small but nicely furnished. There is a small business center with a PC set up justoutside the entrance to the business center for anyone to use for Internet access. I used it several times to E Mail my daughter and was pleased with the speed of the connection. I was quite dispointed in the room that we were given. I had requested a smoking room and I guess they reserve the lowest of the low to us dirty, filthy smokers. The room was shapped like a L with a bump out in the short part of the L where the bathrrom was. Overall the room was about 16 feet long but only about 7 feet wide in the longer part of the L. What I really disliked was the complete lace of storage space. There was no dresser in the room. There was a built in closet in the long part of the L and as part of the closet there were three drawers about 18 inches wide and then there were two open shelves. That was the entire clothing storage area except for the other part of the closet that was for hanging clothes. That was certainly not adequate for two people who had two weeks worth of clothing with them. I echo other people who have stayed here who indicated that you want to stay away from romms that overlook the front of the hotel. The Via Veneto has a lot of very noisy traffic late into the evening. Get a room on the back or the side of the hotel. Because I am gold we were told that breakfast was included as part of our stay even though were were using points. That was very nice because the breakfast buffet is 22.00 Euro's per person which can really add up. The buffet breakfast was fine if you don't try to compare it to what we find here in the US hotel. The Europeans do not eat Pancakes and French Toast. SO the buffet had several different cold cereals, several different kinds of juices, rolls and a nice selection of fresh fruit and yougart. The only hot food were scrambled eggs which I tried the first morning and found tasted nasty so I did not eat them again, sausage and bacon and a egg omelet. Service was good in the dining room. I would strongly suggest that if you want a drink before going out to dinner that you have it in the bar at the hotel. The bartender there is excellent and really knows how to make a great drink. We were quite disapointed in the bar service at the restuarants that we tried in the area. I was not really thrilled with the service at the concierge desk. I definitely had the impression that the main concierge was looking down his very aristocratic Italian nose at the barbaric americans. I asked him specifically about group walking tours as my husband and I are not really into bus tours. He was only able to suggest that we hire a private, individually guided walking tour which would have been quite expensive. As it turned out I was able to luck into a group walking tour of several sites run by a group called Roman Promenades www.romanpromenades.com. We were very happy with them as they can get you into the sites earlier than the regualr opening times and you get to skiop the long ticket lines. The guides were very well informed. Anyway it seems to me as if the concierge should have known about this type of tour but all he was able to recommend was the standard bus tours and a private guide. I tried several restaurants close to the hotel and was not very happy with any of them. The food and the service were mediocre at two and horrible at the third so I cannot recommend any of those.

ntamayo

My wife and I just got back from our Grand Flora stay (10/6 - 10/8).

We reserved a standard room, UG'ed to a nice suite on the 1st floor overlooking Via Veneto, complete with separate living room, king-size bed in the bedroom, and plenty of storage in both rooms. The bathroom was equipped with both a bidet and toilet.

Upon our arrival, a welcome gift of prosecco was delivered to the room along with a card from the general manager welcoming us for our "return visit," since we stayed here last December.

Our first morning's breakfast was served in-room with complementary spumante. The second morning was the healthy-start breakfast in the restaurant, also complementary since they don't have a concierge lounge.

I was actually amazed by the reasonable prices of the room-service dinner entrees (~10-20 Euro). Two pastas and a "secondo piatto" entree (split into two) worked out to be 55 Euro (~ $65).

We supplemented our dinner with cold antipasti and snacks bought at the nearby GS supermarket, just inside the underground walkway to the Spagna metro stop.

The concierge was helpful, pointing out all the restaurants we wanted to sample during our stay, as well as providing both the local and US papers for our room.

Also included in our room rate was a 1-hour access to a jacuzzi and spa at a nearby property, but we didn't get a chance to try it.

The 45min taxi ride to Fiumicino airport from the hotel was also reasonable (45 Euro).

NeoOfTheCRS

I just completed an award stay at the Grand Flora and have a few observations.

1.) If possible avoid the first floor of the hotel. Especially if it is anywhere near via veneto or side streets. We had six dumpsters outside of our room and were awakened every morning at 6:00am (approx) by a dump truck loading and slamming the dumpsters down on the pavement. The windows were rather porous to any loud sounds.

2.) Free breakfast--seems like it depends on who is checking you in and what mood they are in. I did not get it, but did not argue.

3.) Hotel telephones were horrible (could not use a phonecard inside the hotel without operator assistance or use an italian toll free dial-up number with my laptop. Did anyone else have any problems with this?? High-speed internet access would be a huge plus, with an upgraded phone system--even better.

4.) Staff seemed a bit on the snooty side--maybe it was because they seemed to strain a bit with English.

Having said this--the room was a nice size--a triple vs. a double. The hotel is clean and elegant. Not a bad property. They just need to get soundproof windows and upgrade their phone system.

ntamayo

NeoOfTheCRS, sounds like we were both there about the same time:

We too were on the 1st floor on the Via Veneto side, but maybe we were deep sleepers, as the morning vehicles seemed but a muffle to us.

If you're GLD or PLT, you should have already been comp'ed the healthy-start breakfast, perfectly adequate for our needs: rolls, salmon, cold meats, cereal. If you didn't get comp'ed, then at least bring it to their attention before settling your check-out bill.

Also had a little problem with the antiquated phone system; the voice prompts I worked with didn't seeem to like the "0" very well.

RMaz4

Marriott (specifically relating to this hotel) really needs to get their SH&% together. I am trying to book a room at the Rome Grand Flora in May for 4 nights. I have read all of the posts on this website regarding this hotel and booking on reward stays, etc. I know others have had problems as well.

The current story (as of 1/27/2004) is that this Hotel does NOT accept anytime award stays (only standard award stays). There are plenty of rooms available for the 4 nights I am looking for availability.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I can do? I have already spoken to a "supervisor" at Marriott rewards and they were no help!

I'm not sure it makes any difference, but I am platinum with Marriott (for the past 5 years). This is my first attempt at point redemption and I am furious! So many years of building up points for this?!?!?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

NJUPINTHEAIR

As I recall, Marriott has less control over this hotel than most others.

This is a small hotel and there are not many rooms. Perhaps you can call the hotel and they will make an exception for you -- provided, perhaps, you promise to run up a big enought tab for food, drinks, etc.

Most people know that to book a premium property, you must do so at least 10 months in advance, and Rome in May is preferable to Rome in the summer.

I don't have much sympathy for you given tha you are a Marriott Rewards Plat member for 5 years, and I personally know people in Marriott Rewards, and I know that they will try to move heaven and earth for you if they can.

That you are furiour over this, I think is ludicrous. If you are intent on staying in Rome during that time frame, ask Hilton or Starwood to comp you their highest tier or give you a challenge, and then once yo have earned that tier, you will be able to book your hotel stay.

Otherwise, if you are so intent on visiting Europe then, may I suggest an Anytime Award at the Marriott Champs in Paris.