Grand Olympic - Aurum Hotel

Good Place to Stay

First arriving at our hotel, we were tired/cranky and just wanted to have a nap before exploring the city. When we got to our room, it was nothing like the pictures on the internet and seemed very dark with peeling wallpaper. After we had sleep and food, things perked up. We had a double bed with a doorway going into the next bedroom w/ two twin beds and huge bathroom. The ceilings were very high, windows very large and had huge shutters/curtains to block out any sounds or light. The rooms were quite large and were kept clean.

We had a free breakfast every morning which was a life saver as we found eating out in Rome to be very expen$ive. There was deli meat, yogurt, toast, cereal, fruit, pastries, etc. The dining room was clean and the food was good.

BEST thing about the hotel was the location, just blocks from St. Peters and the Vatican. The hotel is by the Cola di Rienzo with quite a few stores that are generally open late, and a food market across the street where you can buy fruit, chocolate, a skinned lamb...whatever you like!

A few blocks down the street is the Piazza Risorgimento with a large market set up under tents. You can barter for souvenirs, gadgets, clothing, jewelery, etc. Also where a small bus transit center is - taking the #81 bus that departs from here goes across the river, down the Via del Corso and past the trevi fountain, pantheon, forum, colloseum, etc.... While it is possible to walk to all of these places, taking the bus saved us time. You can also take this bus back to the piazza risogimento. Its fun to take the bus and get off at random locations to explore on foot around the city as you stumble across many things. Also great - although you are required to buy a bus pass and then validate it on a little machine once you get on the bus - we found many people did not do this and you can then ride the bus for free. I woudl suggest buying a 1 ride pass just in case someone asks you to see your ticket, then you can just say you forgot to validate it.

Unique Quality: All in all it was a great place to stay. It was nothing fancy but had the basics and was clean. The only downside was that there was only a tub w/ a hand-held shower head. The hotel staff didn't give us any grief. The woman at the front desk seemed slightly arrogant but she was helpful. We were hardly in our hotel as there is much to see in Rome and slept very well at night. I would definitely stay there again.