AJLondon

I am staying at the hotel later this month. It seems to be relatively far from the city centre so any advice on:

- availability, prices, and ease of using cabs to/from hotel/city centre (keeping in mind non-existent Italian speaking skills )

- platinum benefits (upgrade etc) experiences from the hotel

Would appreciate any help about this

stimpy

If you do a search, you'll find your answers, but briefly there is a metro stop about a half-mile or so away that will take you to the city for a small price. Also there is a Sheraton airport shuttle. I never used a taxi at this hotel. You should be well taken care of as a Platinum member.

sergio

No problem. There is a complimentary air condition bus to the city center and pick you up in the same spot. Also from airport to hotel and back. Totally free car service.

Richard1148

Although I would like to stay in the historic city center, the amount of Euros or points is way too high for me. Based on doing a search, the Sheraton Roma doesn't sound too bad. I couldn't find any mention of the surrounding neighborhood, however. The area around the Four Points Roma West sounds a little dicey, but what about the Sheraton Roma area? Is it residential, commercial, are there restaurants, shops, or what? What about the airport shuttle? We arrive at FCO at 9:20 AM - the 4 Points does not have a pick up after 8:45 AM until 1:30 PM. Does the Sheraton run the shuttle more frequently? Any other comments from those who have stayed there would be appreciated.

morpheus

I stayed there about 1.5 years ago. At that time, the shuttle ran every hour from FCO to the airport. There was also another shuttle than ran to downtown Rome on a similar timeframe. There were two restaurants in the hotel as well as a bar and executive club-type room. The restaurants were decent, the one with the buffet was good, the other was a bit over-priced.

The immediate surrounding area was residential if I remember correctly, but it was a 5 minute cab ride to my company's office on the outskirts of the city.

Of course, this information may be outdated, but it was a decent enough hotel when I was there. I got an upgrade to the executive floor (platinum) as well as a nice fruit basket and a leather bound notepad as a nice welcome gift from the GM.

Finally, I will say that I was there on business, so my expectations were for that of a business stay rather than a pleasure stay, so your mileage may vary.

marlin

Richard--it's in the EUR neighborhood, a 20-25 minute taxi from the train station. There is very little immediately around the area but it's a five minute walk to the metro. We found it great for the savings-took the shuttle in and out of town. Actually the shuttle is a gigantic air conditioned tour bus. The hotel has a nice lounge and pool, it is a very modern hotel. Food and drink are expensive here. Rooms are nice.

DFW DL

There is really nothing in the immediate area of the Sheraton Roma. It is on the far north end of EUR, bounded on two sides by major roads and to the north by a large hill where the local police station is located. Having a car, or using taxis/metro/shuttle bus is really essential to maing this location work.

If one walks up the hill about 10-15 minutes, one can reach a mixed residential/business neighborhood. The nearest restaurants in this direction are another 15 minutes or so north on viale Marconi, close to St Paul's.

If one walks south, towards EUR, the metro station is about 1 km away. Another 1 km up a very large hill takes one into the heart of EUR, where there are many restaurants.

Walking towards the metro station and then turning west, one goes down a hill towards the via Ostiense. There are several restaurants in both directions, but be advised that this is a very busy roadway which can be quite dangerous for pedestrians.

I've never walked to the east because of the danger in crossing the major roadways there, but having driven in that direction there are several restaurants on the via Laurentina to the east of Via Cristoforo Colombo.

These areas are typical Rome...not too great, not too seedy. viale Marconi and via Cristoforo Colombo, to the north, is a hot-spot for "night-time commerce" activity....but so is the via Veneto.

Haven't stayed at the 4Points West, so I can't give you a direct comparison. I have stayed at the Roma with my family and not been worried about safety. morpheus' and marlin's descriptions are right on - for the price, this is a good property...recently renovated, nice facilities, functional if somehwat smallish rooms (typical for Europe). If my company is paying - I stay at the Excelsior. If it's my money, we stay at the Sheraton.

mtacchi

I have stayed in both I prefer the Sheraton than the 4 pts. The 4 pts is ok though, and I suspect there may be more to walk to in terms of restraunts at the 4pts. HOWEVER, if you are fortunate enough to be in Rome, spend friggin 10 bucks cab it to central rome for dinner. See dinning section of FT for recommends. The Sheraton is much closer to downtown than the 4pts. I was given as Plat large exec room w/ lounge priveleges at Sheraton and Jr suite at 4pts.

Good Luck.

Ling

The Sheraton Roma has a complimentary shuttle to two points in the city, it leaves on the hour starting at 7am, ending around 10pm. One stop is near the Termini (railroad station) and the other is close to all the tourist attractions. The drive takes about 20-25 minutes. If you like going back to the hotel for catnaps during the day, this may pose a problem. Since I preferred saving on hotel rates (Rome was expensive!) and the Sheraton Roma is on the cash and points list, I stayed there March 2005.

Linda

neuron

I stayed at the Sher Roma for a couple of nights and found it not difficult at all to get around. The recent flier I kept shows the first ****tle to the city is 8 am and oges hourly until 2200. Returning from the city, it starts at 9am and last one leaves at 2300.

THere are a couple of stops, including Piazza Venezia, which is at one end of the Roman Forum (the other side having the Colisseum), as well as the Capitol Hill. I found that everything is within walking distance (Colisseum to Pantheon), except the Vatican, which is reachable by the Metro.

There is also a Metro stop in the EUR region (Magliana), though I did not ever get off/on at this juncture.

THe train station stop is located on Via Marsala, as you leave, go left and walk about 150 feet to the bay of buses. The Sheraton one is the blue one and SHeraton Roma embossed on the side of hte bus. This was useful as I arrived by train to Rome.

There is also a separate airport bus, if needed for 5 Euro each way. Less frequent bus service but also very useful.

I also stayed at the Westin Excelsior, which is world's above the Sher Roma, more convenient, but much more expensive.

It was crowded the first week of May, and I suspect it will not die down until fall.

dcpaul

ARGH. It's far. The comp shuttle is annoying and only runs on a schedule. I'd avoid. Rooms were actually very tiny and I didn't particulary enjoy the feel of the hotel. It overlooks this soccer field and well, although I'd go back to Rome, I wouldn't stay here. It's unfortunate that Sheraton chose such a place to put it. I'd avoid.

bworrell

Stay downtown. But that being said I was impressed with the Shuttle if you have no other choice or it's too expensive to stay downtown.

travelnutz

I'm confused. There's a "downtown" Rome? Do you mean the area next to Termini?

TRAVELSIG

I think "downtown" Rome refers to the area near the Spanish Steps- Via Veneto is also quite convenient, as is the area near the Pantheon. Rome is a wonderful walking city- I would also suggest staying in the centre- if you are not completely point driven (I know this is FT) you can find a lot of reasonably priced hotels- although not chain affiliated.
Try www.hotels.it as they usually have some good rates.

mauld

Thanks for all the info on transporation for the Roma. I'll be in Rome in mid Aug (8/19-21) and have my first night at the St Regis (Eur 212), then I'll move to the Roma (Eur 141). I was wondering how I would get between the two, but with the Termini station so close to the St Regis it should be easy to walk over (with only a small roller carry on) and take the Sheraton bus. Will I have to show my reservation to get on the bus? Or would it be just easier to take the metro from the Republica stop near the St Regis?