Hotel Bolivar

Great Location , Great Price

by A TripAdvisor Member

The Hotel Bolivar was an amazing deal considering the location and the price. In August and we got the room for about $100 Euros a night. It is only a few minutes from Trevi Fountain and all the main sites. The desk clerks were interesting characters, but all very friendly and very helpful. The room on the fourth floor had a little balcony with somewhat of a view. If you are looking for 4 star pampering do not stay here. But if you want a nice hotel in an amazing location at a great price, stay here.

Keep looking...

by A TripAdvisor Member

We stayed here for 3 nights in November 2004. One of the guys that works the front desk was extremely rude. Had major problems with hot water! One day we had to leave without a shower in the morning and come back at lunch to shower which was a major inconvenience. Standing in the shower was like standing in a cone, very uncomfortable. The location was decent, but I would keep looking.

Not the price quoted!!

by A TripAdvisor Member

My wife and I were looking for a cheap break away in Rome for a couple of nights before christmas and came across what we thought was a great offer at the Bolivar. We were quoted 114 euro's for 2 nights online. My wife was a bit anxious about this as it seemed like a such a great offer, so being fluent in italian she phoned the Hotel to check the prices. The very helpful man told her that yes this price was definitely correct, the room was standard and it was a special offer, so she confirmed the booking. She phoned a week later to double check everything was ok before we travelled and was again reassured the price was right.

The room we had was adequate despite looking onto a building site, but at this price we were quite satisfied.

The problem came when we checked out of our hotel on the second morning to find the price had changed to 269 euro's!!

Certainly we did have a couple of drinks from the mini-bar but they had at least charged us DOUBLE for our stay.

With no real receipt apart from the word of the very helpful man who was the SAME man who was now charging us double, we had no option but to eventually pay.

Rome was great as ever and checking on the internet before we went it looks like you can get some great bargain stays off season, but I'd advise any one to get something in writing before commiting themselves to a stay.

We've been to Rome on several occasions before and always had a positive experience, the people are very friendly and the city is amazing but this kind of thing drags the whole thing down. I would definitely NOT recommend this hotel to anyone.

Not the room booked. Stinking bathroom.

by TripAdvisor Member TheBestShows

Thankfully only stayed for one night. Our quad room (1 double and 2 singles) had clearly been re-sold to someone else. We had to put up with a small double room with 2 folding beds added. The man on the desk explained to us that 160 euros wasn't much to pay, and as we were staying for just one night... well, tough! The displaced furniture was put outside in the hallway! Apart from the beds and TV, we had just one chair which blocked the wardrobes!

Continual stench in bathroom coming, I think, from the ventilation, meaning unable to use bath or shower.

Quite possibly my worst hotel experience ever. Pretty central location, but with taxi fares only around 5 or 6 euros you may find better elsewhere - the good (and not expensive) restaurant area of Travestere maybe. Or have a look at reasonably central Daphne Inn - reviewed on this site - which we were planning to use until conned by Bolivar's offer. This hotel clearly regards itself highly, and its guests as quite the opposite.

Great room, great location, mixed staff

by TripAdvisor Member tmactx

It appears that the 3rd and fourth floors have been renovated and are excellent. In seeing a room on the 2nd floor it was no where near as nice. The room seemed very new, clean and well kept each day. I booked my room on their website for 90 Euro a night for a king bed and got a queen size. Everything worked well and it was very quiet despite being right at the front of the building. The staff started off nice and turned rude, most of the time ignoring you if you went to the desk. Great location to all the major sites. If you stay there ask for a 3rd or 4th floor room. For some strange reason the first 2 floors room numbers start with a 1, the 3rd floor the number 2.

Your standard 3 star hotel.....

by A TripAdvisor Member

I stayed in this hotel for three nights with friends in February 2005. Our room wasn't the nicest, quite small but it was clean and quiet which is all I really cared about. Our friends next door had a nicer room, it was larger for a start and the bathroom was bigger. Breakfast was included and was nice, and there was plenty of it. Hotel staff were very friendly and helpful, and the location is great because it's off a major road, so you don't get the noise from the traffic. I don't know what people expect when they book a 3 star hotel in Europe, but this hotel seemed on scale with others I have stayed in. If you want more luxury then I suggest booking something 4 star. This hotel was fine.

Bell' Italia Tour 2005

by Courtney5882

"Bell' Italia Tour"

Our EF Trip to Italy was a blast. We chose the Bell' Italia tour, which ended up being wonderful. Three group leaders, 17 kids, 1 tour director, and 12 days of Italy made for a trip of a lifetime.

We started our journy with a flight from Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport. From there we flew on Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Germany with a connecting flight to Milan Italy. Upon arrival we get to visit the smal town of Arona, a beautiful place located along Lake Maggiore. After that we headed to Venice. We actually stayed on the mainland in a town called Jesolo.

The following morning we took a ferry to the magical city of Venice. We explored Doge's Palace, St. Mark's Basilica and Square, Murano Glass Factory, Lace Workshop, Gondola Ride, and plenty of free time to wonder about this heavenly city. Venice really was my favorite city.

From there we traveled into Tuscany the next day arriving in Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance. We got to see the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Santa Crocce, Leather Workshops, Ponte Vecchio, Boboli Gardens, and David. We spent two days in this city having a blast and doing lots of shopping. We took a short detour to Pisa where we snapped photos of us holding up the tower. It is really cool.

On the way to our next destination we stopped in the small town of Assisi, which is stunning. We toured Saint Francis Basilica and explored the city on the hill. Then we headed to the ancient city of Rome. We saw the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, the Vatican, and so much more.

Then we headed South yet again to see the ruins of Pompeii and Mount Vesusvius. We continued down to Naples the birthplace of pizza and home to the mafia.

From there we went down the Almafi Coast stopping in Sorrento and Capri, which both were breathtaking and relaxing. After frolicking in the sun we returned to Rome to head home.

"June 3-4, 2005"

Well we are now on our first leg of the trip to Italy. I was pretty nervous last night so I didn’t get much sleep. I woke up at 4:15 a.m. and got to the airport at 5:30 a.m. All of our kids showed up on time so that is really good news. We only had about an hour or so to wait at the gate. I am now flying on Continental Airlines flight #48 to Newark, New Jersey. It took forever to get off the runway in Houston. Apparently, there was a lot of air traffic. After finally getting up in the air we were served breakfast, which consisted of Cornflakes cereal, milk, and a banana. I chose not to eat the banana because it looked a little on the funky side. Anyways, we still have about an hour left. To be continued …..

Well we made it to Newark! Woohoo! We arrived safely and with everyone being hungry. So we all went to the food court in the airport, which wasn’t too impressive. I chose to eat at McDonalds. After lunch I went looking in some of the stores and bought a shot glass. I collect them from everywhere I go. So far we haven’t seen much of Jersey but what I have seen isn’t too impressive. The airport seems pretty small and it is hot in here. Our flight to Frankfurt, Germany has been delayed 25 minutes due to the weather. So we are all lying in the airport waiting to board our flight. Will write again in Germany.

At last, Germany!!! We had an 8-hour flight from Jersey to Germany and I swear I only slept like an hour. Pure hell I tell you. The airport in Frankfurt was very modern looking on the inside and smelled of cigarette smoke everywhere. Upon clearing customs my first stop was the toilette to freshen up. Then I went and did some souvenir shopping. I got Dad a beer stein and 2 post cards for me. I love the way German people talk it is so cool. After that it was time to board our last flight headed to Milan, Italy. The plane was very small and I started feeling really sick due to turbulence. However, the best thing about the flight was flying over the Alps. They were so beautiful. They were really huge and covered with snow. Wow, what a wonderful sight! It was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.

We landed in Milan and had a smooth transition except for Savannah’s luggage did not make the connecting flight. It is suppose to arrive at the hotel tonight. Since the other groups weren’t there we got to go to Arona, s small village on Lake Maggiore. It was a beautiful lake. The lake borders Switzerland. It was just really pretty and relaxing. After walking around the town a lot of the kids and us chaperons at this little pizzeria, which was delicious. We all ordered a Margherita pizza. However, know that when you order a pizza you will get a whole pizza. We had enough time left to take a few pictures and then get back on the bus to go pick up the others at the airport. From there we had a 5-hour bus ride to Venice. Actually, we are staying in Jesolo at Hotel Bolivar. We didn’t get to stop at Verona, which was kinda disappointing, but we got over it. However, were we are staying at now is really cool. Tonight at supper we had ziti, chicken parmesan, potatoes, and flan. Then we decided to go get clean after such a long dirty day.

Courtney’s Thoughts of the Day
1. Europe is really green and not as much of a metropolis as I had thought.

2. While the plane was descending in Italy all you could see was red tile roofs. Very pretty.

3. Billboards are very odd here. Like Luxelle panties has people in their undies with butterflies around them.