Smy Aran Blu Roma Mare Hotel

This hotel lacks care and attention from the brand and needs improvement.
I cannot fault the staff, who are very friendly and accommodating.
The hotel was clean and the breakfast offered was ok, but could be improved upon.
I now list the faults:

Expensive and totally unreasonable not to be able to cancel and get a refund;
The lift only allows 2 guests at a time;
No rooftop bar, no access to roof;
Bedrooms are ok, but needs freshening up;
Bathroom - no anti-slip mat for bath, no handrail, the extended shower head totally in wrong place which makes it hard to have a shower with glass screen closed;
Lack of towels;
Bedroom door did not lock.
No coffee machine;
Balcony extremely unsafe for children, glass panels installed at angles;
Hotel situated next to apartment blocks that are being renovated, so quite noisy, but once these have been finished, there won’t be builder noises;
Quite a distance to the Lido town, however there is a mariner with a few restaurants and a beach opposite.
Photos are not what the hotel looks like and are very misleading.

It is a great shame that the majority of the reviews are not good, but this is down to the brand not bothering with keeping the hotel maintained properly.

BE VERY CAREFUL
I booked this hotel today for me and my pet and after taking the money they demanded several things such as:

- a blood test
- deworming medicine max 21 days before arrival.
- room type not guaranteed

For anyone who has a cat or dog they know the deworming is done as per the medication prospect monthly or every three months depending on medication and if you do it again just for the sake of entering this royal hotel you WILL overdose your pet!
On top of this they think it is normal to take your pet that is already in a foreign country stressed from travel to get a blood test at the vet!
Nowhere in Rome do they ask this matter of fact nowhere in Italy since any pet travelling already has passport or travel certificate. Obviously these are good for the border control of a country but not for this hotel.
After sending them all the articles from consumer law that they breached I am waiting for my money back. They conveniently make all Booking.com reservations non refundable so now my holiday turned into a hot mess dealing with scammers. On top of everything they might not even give you the room you paid for, as per the same “rules” that do not appear on Booking or their website.

I asked to check out after 1 night of 3 originally planned as this hotel is NOT a 4 star hotel. BEWARE: Hotel staff refused to give me a refund for the 2 additional nights after I cancelled to return to Rome. LEAVING ANYWAYS AS JUST ICK. This is 2 stars at best. Rooms thenselves are OK if you get a sea view, but rest of area is gross. Elevator & hallways were hot. It is old, dated and in a very run down & sketchy area. Nothing to do or places to eat, trees were dead, plants were dead, grass was dead. Looks like a bad and unsafe place. Buffet breakfast was awful. Runny scrambled eggs, hot dog bites and warm yogurt turned my stomach. I know Italy has much nicer areas, so do yourself a favor and AVOID Ostia and this area in general. Don't fall for the pictures on the hotel's website...no bedspreads, got bug bites immediately and just an awful little dirty beach full of dogs barking and icky surroundings. No beach chair rentals. Asked about chartering a boat and front desk gal says she's from Rome & boats in the marina were just fishing boats and she did not know. Bad customer service. Rude receptionist. Do NOT stay here unless you want gross food, rundown hotel in a sketchy area. This is not a vacation area.

Service was great, friendly and accommodating. Rooms are small and If you book this property please ask for a room with the ocean view as that is what the ad shows...we stayed on the back and the view was ghetto apartments with dogs barking at night...we never once sat on the patio there for that reason. No air conditioning was also a big issue for me. It was hot here in May. I can't imagine July and August with no AC