Hotel Caravel

Some reviews we read on here and elsewhere made us a bit scared we should've booked a different hotel, but after an amazing time in Rome we can say we will definitely return to Hotel Caravel when we go back to Rome!

We visited hotel Caravel in august of 2023 and paid €81,75 per night (after all taxes, the local tax of €6 per person per night included).

The pricing comes down to a little over €40 per person for a 4 ⭐ hotel in Rome (including breakfast) in the busiest time of the year. A great price if you ask me!

The staff has always been friendly and helpful to us, haven't had a single rude encounter even though we asked quite a few questions. Always smiling and happy to help.

Room was really tidy and pretty spacious. The bathroom was also really modern, although I would've liked a separate shower instead of a shower and bath combination. Cleanliness was great throughout the entire room on arrival and after the daily cleaning session. Only point this could improve was the window of the bathroom - opening this revealed a bunch of cobwebs and dust so we kept this window closed.

The bed was great, we had a double bed and it was very wide which is really comfortable. Sadly, as in most hotels, it consisted of two seperate mattresses instead of one big mattress, but luckily the beds where firmly stuck on the ground so the gap wasn't that noticable and didn't get wider by laying on it.

The breakfast was decent. The staff tries to keep everything available so you don't have to wait too long when some plates are empty. There is some variety, but not a whole lot. Our favorites where the yoghurts and watermelon. Don't expect anything too special. I'd say the breakfast doesn't decrease nor improve our rating of this hotel.

The location is not ideal. In theory it's not that big of a deal. There's a metro station at 10 to 15 minutes of walking, which is fine. Taking the metro you're looking at roughly 25 to 30 minutes of getting from your hotel to the centre.

However, we opted for taking the busses, with a bus stop close to the hotel. The incredibly inconsistent bus service in Rome was by far the biggest negative in Rome. This is outside of Hotel Caravel's influence ofcourse, but it affects the reachability of the hotel.

During the day it happened quite often that a bus just wouldn't show up, come way too early or way too late. And this is even worse in the evening! Our worst experience was trying to get to the hotel from the city centre by bus with it taking over an hour because several busses in a row just wouldn't show up (even though they showed up in the journey planner of the official Rome public transport website). Definitely take note of this if you're planning to go back to the hotel late in the evening by bus, it's a complete gamble. We recommend opting for the metro

Wrapping this all up - Hotel Caravel is a great 4 ⭐ hotel. The rooms are modern and tidy, the service is good and staff is friendly. Breakfast is decent, but nothing special.

All of this comes at a price no hotel in Rome can beat - I'm confident staying in a hotel of the same quality close to the centre of Rome would've cost twice as much, or even more.

The location isn't ideal, but that's mostly because the public transport busses in Rome are very inconsistent and don't know what punctuality is. If they would always show up on time, the location would be way less of an issue. Take the metro if you don't like to gamble. 😉

Although the hotel was not in the city center,the access was easy with the buses and it was value for money. The room and the bed were very comfortable. The only thing we were disappointed was the indifferent and almost rude behavior of some receptionist and that breakfast consisted mainly of sweet tastes.

The hotel manager was extremely rude and arrogant!!! For this reason alone, I would not use the hotel again!!!.

fridge in the room made a lot of noise , bathroom had signs of disrepair , staff were abrupt , when checking in we asked several questions about how to get into rome , we were told that the bus routes were on a map and to ask any questions. maybe wrong to compare every other hotel we stayed at the people made a large effort to help. The walls were quite thin so heard tv, etc and it seemed due to maybe the price it was somewhere younger people stayed when wanting to go out in rome , .room was a good size , good breakfast selection.

Reception staff were not very friendly or helpful, particularly the girl who checked us in the evening of 29/12/08. She was extremely rude and impatient. She was on a call at the time and just wanted to get rid of us.The bar staff were very nice and friendly.