Casa Ponte Sisto

I wish I could say this was a nice place but sadly no. Started with the front desk staff - SO UNFRIENDLY. They made us feel like we were always bothering them anytime we asked a question. Never a smile or a kind word. The room was so small. The room we were in had no shower, just a large tub with a handheld shower head. The bed was hard and uncomfortable. I was mainly surprised at the lack of hospitality, no one was cheerful and polite, so unwelcoming. Very disappointed. I would never recommend. We were just grateful to be in Rome, but feel I should warn their next guests. Not sure where all their “excellent” reviews on their website come from… suspect for sure. We did have a nice time in Rome though.

We stayed at this hotel for one night on May 31st. Great location, clean comfortable room over looking the courtyard, beautiful rooftop patio. However, the staff at the front desk are very rude to the guests. Zero customer service skills, no hello, no smiles, no welcomes and very condescending tones when speaking to their guests. The blonde lady at the buffet breakfast is very unprofessional, rolls her eyes when we asked where the coffee cups were, she then proceeded to talk about us to her colleague in Italian, little did she know is that I understand Italian. After reading other reviews about the staff, this hotel would benefit in customer service training for their staff!

I stayed in Room 227 on April 12th and had a terrible experience. The room didn’t look like the pictures, it smelled bad, and was noisy due to street traffic — we barely slept. The air conditioning didn’t work, and the front desk said it’s only used in summer (not mentioned during booking). Worst of all, the staff didn’t even say sorry when I explained everything — just asked me to pay the €15 tourist tax. Very unprofessional for a 4-star hotel. I work in hospitality and this is far from acceptable. Not recommended.

I booked this hotel based solely on reviews. This is so not a four-star establishment. In fact, far from it. Albeit, it's in a central location, close to the centre of Rome. That's where the truth ends. The entrance is down a dark pedestrian cobblestone alley. The hotel rooms are tired looking, drab and generally depressing.

The staff were unhelpful and rather unfriendly. The beds and pillows were hard as a rock and my bedspread which felt like a shower curtain had a large stain on it. The flat-screen tv was scarcely bigger than my face. Which is fine, I didn't go to Rome to watch tv. But still not what you would expect from the description. The downstairs bar was also lifeless and depressing.

Do not book here. It was cheap and centrally located. But most hotels are priced cheaply in Rome in the month of January.

It's not worthy of a four-star rating. It was so bad that we left after 30 minutes. I have been pursuing the hotel for at least a partial refund. Of course, no management was working when we checked in or out. The hotel's latter response was - "I should've done better research".

So folks, let me help you out, so you can avoid my same mistake. Do not even consider booking at Hotel Ponte Sisto. I did my research, and have travelled to over 40 countries. This was my 4th time in Rome! Never have I left a hotel because I was dissatisfied with the premises. This was a first. A colossal let down. AVOID!