Cardinal Hotel St. Peter, Roma

...the taxi to find the Cardinal Hotel, St Peters.

- The Address
The address suggests that the hotel is basically on the door step of the Vatican its self. I have no idea why it was so similar to the address of the actual St Peters because the Cardinal Hotel is on the out skirts of the city. Even one or two of the taxi drivers who had been around for a while weren't sure where it was.

To get to the hotel you have ...
...I first walked into the Cardinal Hotel I found a lounge where you could wait or relax, open to the elements which lead to the reception. When approaching the reception it gave me a very professional impression with clocks for around the world lined up on the wall behind the reception as well as a spotless desk which ran from one side of the room to the other. To Italian staff there were very friendly helping where ever they could from an enquiry ... more

I recently decided to go to Rome or should I say Roma to see the main sights such as the Vatican and the Coliseum. So upon deciding this, I would obviously have to stay some where. I decided to stay here because a few family members had already stayed at one that was similar just down the road so I thought that I should try some where new.

- First Impression (Locals)
My first impression of the public as soon as I got into Rome was not an amazing one at that. When came out of the airport and got into the nearest taxi possible the taxi driver helped me with my bags as you would expect. As I set off I noticed that the taxi driver took me onto the motor way only to realise later that he was taking the route that would go all the way around the city as well as having the clock charging us at the maximum amount. It came to a very expensive journey. Luckily the return trip wasn't the same but it's not like you can argue with them nor do anything. So with my first impression of the locals engraved in stone in my mind I got out of the taxi to find the Cardinal Hotel, St Peters.

- The Address
The address suggests that the hotel is basically on the door step of the Vatican its self. I have no idea why it was so similar to the address of the actual St Peters because the Cardinal Hotel is on the out skirts of the city. Even one or two of the taxi drivers who had been around for a while weren't sure where it was.

To get to the hotel you have to turn off a main road after avoiding some mad traffic (that's how they drive there) into a back street which looks like it has taken a beating over the years and could do with someone tearing it apart and relaying the concrete.

Once you get to the front gates your thoughts can be changed easily. From standing head on to the hotel you can see that the hotel is made up of six floors with a balcony on the roof and a swimming pool to your right hand side.

- First Appearance
When I first walked into the Cardinal Hotel I found a lounge where you could wait or relax, open to the elements which lead to the reception. When approaching the reception it gave me a very professional impression with clocks for around the world lined up on the wall behind the reception as well as a spotless desk which ran from one side of the room to the other. To Italian staff there were very friendly helping where ever they could from an enquiry to calling a taxi.

Rooms
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The rooms were excellent. When I first walked in I noticed the en-suit toilet to my side in which I could see spotless tiles, toilet, bath tub and sink. The toilet was reasonably large, adequate for a descent and comfortable stay.

As I went on further through to the main section of the room I could see a large double bed in the middle of the room with a long desk along the side of the wall with a TV/PC on it. There were only three television channels in English that I could watch which were MTV, BBC News and CBN News (Not the largest of selections) however like most I wasn't there to watch TV, I was there to go and see the sights which Rome had to offer but if you did intend to watch TV on the night its not going to keep you attention for long. If you did have some extra time on your hand which you wanted to spend relaxing in front of the TV it was possible to order the movie package which meant you could have all the movies available for 25 Euro. This TV/PC also allowed the internet however that was extra.

There was a slide open wardrobe which allowed clothes to be hung up on one side and when you closed that side to open the next side up there was fridge full of the dreaded expensive goods that no one wants to spend their cash on. Below the fridge there was a small safe which was free to use if needed. To use it all I needed to do was select a password to keep my bits and bobs safe.

My friend also had another room that was next door to mine. His was exactly the same in every way so I would say that this review of the room would stand for most of the rooms that they had.

In a morning I would get up, get dressed and go out looking at the sights as I guess most people would do. When I can back in the afternoon I would find that the room had been cleaned from top to bottom. I found that the maids would change the bed clothes every day as well as clean up general bits lying around. I thought this was spot on.

Facilities
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I mentioned earlier that the hotel had six floors so here they are:-

3 - Rooms & Balcony
2 - Rooms
1 - Rooms
0 - Reception
-1 - Breakfast Bar
-2 - Car Garage

3 - Rooms & Balcony
It possible to either get up to the floor 3 by elevator or if you're up for a bit of fitness you can always take the stairs. Once on the floor 3 I found that I had to have a good look around to find the stair well which took me up to the balcony however once I knew where it was there wasn't a problem. The balcony is excellent with its bird's eye view, chairs and tables running from one side of the roof to the other and the three small heated pools with enough room to fit around four people into. I tried to use one of these while I was staying at the hotel to find that it was freezing cold even when it was on. It wasn't until later on that I found the heating was broken. I found the balcony to be very relaxing so if they had opened up a bar on the balcony I'm sure they could have made a killing.

-1 - Breakfast Bar
I decided to have my breakfast included in the stay. Breakfast was on from 7.00am to 10.00am allowing enough time for a bit of a lye in before breakfast. I thought the food was great however a bit limited on choice. The main food available was a croissant of different kinds, some fruit, a couple different sorts of cereal in small boxes with tea or coffee however I was able to have as much as I wanted.

Local
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When walking down the street or in the local area I found that a lot of the buildings and shops had had graffiti put onto them. At no point did I see anyone walking the streets at night that I might think that they were up to something or whom I might I thought were dodgy. Where has it been coming from I don't know. It does bring down the appearance of Rome however as you get deeper into Rome you see less and less of it.

The main sights were in the very centre of Rome and the Cardinal Hotel is more on the out skirts of the city so to get to the Vatican for example it was a good twenty five minute walk into the centre or a five minute taxi ride.

4 Stars?
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This hotel is meant to be a 4 star hotel or should I say supposed to be a 4 star hotel. I do question this rating because compared to some of the other 4 star hotels that I been to I would have expected there to be a wider variety of activities and facilities available. For the amount that I paid I would have expected a little more for the money.

Conclusion
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I really did enjoy going to the Cardinal Hotel however next time I might try some where else offering a couple more activities to do. I would recommend this hotel however I have stayed at better 4 star hotels.

Thanks for reading 

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