Hotel 55 Fifty Five

We paid almost $400 a night for a 4-star experience at Hotel 55, and our room was located in an entirely separate building roughly 300 meters (a 5-minute walk) away. This building isn't branded as Hotel 55 at all, it's labeled "La Maison D'Art," which is listed as a 3-star property. Very misleading! The room had visible mold in the bathroom, and the room had a terrible stench that came directly from the bathroom, likely due to sewage or mold. Leaving the bathroom door shut kept the main room tolerable, but opening it immediately filled the space with an unbearable odor. The bathroom had multiple exposed nail heads sticking outside the shower. Walking on them was painful and a safety hazard. The mattress and pillows were extremely uncomfortable to sleep on. To top it off, the AC never felt like it was on and the Wi-Fi was spotty and constantly disconnected, forcing us to rely on our own mobile data the entire time. Lastly, the room looked nothing like the photos displayed on their website. Maybe they have the room they show online but it’s a roll of the dice to get it.

We booked this hotel through Hotels.com for our trip to Rome with my wife. When we arrived at the hotel, we were told that there were no rooms available and that they had arranged a room for us in an annex building, located about a 7–8 minute walk from the main hotel. When we arrived at the annex, we first encountered a problem with the elevator. After reaching the 4th floor, we found the surroundings to be dirty, old, and poorly maintained. The carpets were stained, and there was a strong unpleasant smell inside the room. The room also looked nothing like the photos shown on the website. The walls were extremely thin, and we could clearly hear conversations from the neighboring room and the corridor, which made it very difficult to relax or sleep. Overall, I would not recommend staying at this hotel. When we reported these issues to the receptionist, we were told, rather rudely, that they could not do anything to help us because we had booked a non-refundable rate. Very disappointing experience.

Unfortunately, the only positive thing I can say about this hotel is the location. Everything else about our stay was extremely disappointing. The staff were not polite or welcoming at all, and on several occasions we found their attitude quite rude. Whenever we asked for something, we had to wait a long time, and when we raised complaints, we never felt that anyone took our concerns seriously. The noise in the morning was also unacceptable. The cleaning staff would start vacuuming and cleaning from around 8 a.m., while talking loudly in the lobby and corridors. You can hear practically everything from the room, and there seemed to be absolutely no consideration for guests who might still be sleeping. We also had a problem with the AC leaking in our bedroom every single day. We reported it and were told that someone had been sent to fix it, but the problem continued throughout our stay and was never properly resolved. The most concerning experience happened when we left the hotel with our room cards. When we returned, we found additional cards inside our room that had not been there when we left. This made us believe that someone had entered the room while we were away. Regardless of the reason, finding cards in our room without any explanation made us feel extremely uncomfortable and raised serious concerns for us about privacy. Overall, we were very disappointed with the service, cleanliness experience, noise levels, maintenance, and the way our concerns were handled. A good location cannot compensate for this level of service. Based on our experience, I would not stay here again.

I absolutely loved my stay at Hotel 55 in Rome. From the moment I arrived, everything felt welcoming, elegant and beautifully maintained. My room was lovely, comfortable and exceptionally clean, with beautiful décor and a modern bathroom. The breakfast was fantastic, with a wonderful selection of fresh fruit, pastries, breads, eggs, vegetables, yogurt and so much more — the perfect way to start a day exploring Rome! The location is excellent and made it very easy to enjoy the city on foot. After long days sightseeing, it was such a pleasure to come back to a peaceful and comfortable room. A beautiful little gem in Rome. I would happily stay here again and definitely recommend it to anyone visiting the Eternal City. Grazie, Hotel 55, for making my stay in Rome so special!