Hotel Canova in Rome

Absolutely Unacceptable and Unsafe Experience

My partner and I had a deeply disturbing experience at this hotel. At 1 am, we were abruptly woken up by a strange man entering our room. This man had been given our room number and door code by the hotel reception staff. He only left after I confronted him, naked and shouting, and his only response was, "Sorry! Sorry! I have a pin code!" This is beyond unacceptable.

The situation was terrifying and could have been much worse had I not been there to confront the intruder. The thought of what could have happened if my girlfriend had been alone in that room is chilling.

To make matters worse, the manager's response was disgraceful. Instead of taking responsibility, he tried to emotionally blackmail us into not leaving a bad review, stating that he would fire the receptionist if we did. He also dismissed our concerns by saying nothing bad had happened, and therefore, a refund wasn’t justified. Nothing bad happened? Being woken in the middle of the night by a stranger barging into our room, causing us to have to physically confront him while naked, is a severe breach of safety and privacy. I would love to see how this "man" would react if he was in this situation and had to protect his partner.

The way this incident was handled by the staff and management was appalling. I strongly advise anyone considering staying here to think twice, especially if you value your safety and privacy. This hotel clearly does not.

EDIT (In response to owner): I didn't claim at all in my review that the 'staff member' (receptionist told us this was another guest given our room key by mistake) was naked at all, I am very clearly stating that I had to confront them while I was naked (after being woken from bed at 1am...).

Absolutely Unacceptable and Unsafe Experience

My partner and I had a deeply disturbing experience at this hotel. At 1 am, we were abruptly woken up by a strange man entering our room. This man had been given our room number and door code by the hotel reception staff. He only left after I confronted him, naked and shouting, and his only response was, "Sorry! Sorry! I have a pin code!" This is beyond unacceptable.

The situation was terrifying and could have been much worse had I not been there to confront the intruder. The thought of what could have happened if my girlfriend had been alone in that room is chilling.

To make matters worse, the manager's response was disgraceful. Instead of taking responsibility, he tried to emotionally blackmail us into not leaving a bad review, stating that he would fire the receptionist if we did. He also dismissed our concerns by saying nothing bad had happened, and therefore, a refund wasn’t justified. Nothing bad happened? Being woken in the middle of the night by a stranger barging into our room, causing us to have to physically confront him while naked, is a severe breach of safety and privacy. I would love to see how this "man" would react if he was in this situation and had to protect his partner.

The way this incident was handled by the staff and management was appalling. I strongly advise anyone considering staying here to think twice, especially if you value your safety and privacy. This hotel clearly does not.

On our last night in Rome I received a missed call and text message from the Hotel Canova. See below:

Dear Kevin,

If you want, you can also leave the city tax in cash in your room, so our staff can take it tomorrow in the morning.
The total amount is 72€ (6€ per person per night)
Room 101: 2 people for 3 nights= 36€
(Children under 10 years old are exempt from the payment)
Room 206: 2 people for 3 nights= 36€

Best Regards,
Hotel Canova***

As you can see from the text message above from the Canova Hotel I was given an option to pay the city taxes before I checked out. I received the message after I was not able to receive the previous messages - understand that my US cell phone service is quite poor in many areas of Rome. This was the case. As soon as I realized I missed a call, I called back to see about the matter. The Canova Employee notified me that she disconnected my room code from the hotel and the only way to restore it was to leave my dinner and pay it immediately. The employee stated that if I didn't pay immediately, I wouldn't be able to get to my room and she would get fired. I have three young children and wanted to make sure we had access to our room. I abandoned my family at dinner and ran to the hotel (25 minute run from the restaurant back to the hotel) to pay the taxes - they let me in the door because they actually deleted my code. I explained that I have been able to pay city taxes before checking out in several countries and also that I spoke and greeted both employees at the Canova Hotel during the stay without a prompt to immediately pay the taxes. Instead the employee yelled at me and told me that I ignored her and I am the reason she is fired. She was very offensive and not reasonable even after I did what was asked of me - payed the taxes. I did not receive any support even though I received notification that stated that I could pay the taxes before I checked out. Please address this matter with me as this is very disturbing service behavior. This experience was very poor and should be taken seriously.

Additionally the hotel was dirty, had ants and, chipped tiles and mold in the bathroom. The window to the room did not open all of the way and the fridge was dirty. The hotel did not have coffee or tea in the room and was very poor quality. The Canova Hotel experience put a damper on our holiday.

Terrible shower. Horrible elevator. Pay tax with cash, but offer no change. No breakfast when advertised. Expensive.