Hotel 55 Fifty Five

“don’t be scared by the low reviews”

I saw the reviews here after booking and was honestly quite nervous - as expected due to the low reviews compared to their ratings. Now, I will admit there were a few noise issues we had experienced however overall we were quite happy with our stay! For context we were two friends (young) and stay… more

I saw the reviews here after booking and was honestly quite nervous - as expected due to the low reviews compared to their ratings. Now, I will admit there were a few noise issues we had experienced however overall we were quite happy with our stay! For context we were two friends (young) and stayed in the annex. There were three main issues I’d seen which I can say personally I felt were either manageable, or we didn’t experience at all. NOTE the annex building is NOT fully owned by the hotel, this I was confused about as it isn’t clearly said. The hotel owns floor FOUR, which you can access via lift or stairs, there are other ‘hotels’ in this building too and outside it is locked by a door code access. 1. Noise. Now this unfortunately we did experience, however as two young travellers who had only booked for two nights we didn’t spend much time in our room, rather exploring the beautiful city. The noise is during the day in the annex, likely building work which is out of the hotels control. I will admit as well we were in one of the rooms near the breakfast area which was quite noisy during breakfast hours but dragged us up out of bed at least! We never came back early enough during the day for me to exactly say when building work ended, however it certainly wasn’t there during night or early mornings meaning we did get a good sleep overall. 2. Annex building. I personally enjoyed staying in the building (as we weren't bothered by the noise due to exploring during the day) as it was right in the heart of the shopping area! I know this isn’t a plus for many, but it was only an extra two to five minute walk to the gorgeous historical sites like the trevi fountain, pantheon and colosseum! The spanish steps are located almost directly behind the annex itself, so no extra steps there. The location is still incredible! The lift does only fit two people in (recommended) and it is not a bog standard British or American lift, as expected as you are in Rome. I didn’t feel unsafe in the lift personally or have issues with it. 3. Smell and dirt. I will admit I did go into the other area of the annex and can admit there were stains on the carpet, but as someone who travels frequently and stayed in two stars all the way to luxury five, it is something I’ve come across before and simply shrugged. Smell on the other hand, can’t really say I smelt anything bad at all while I was there, not in the stairwell or even on the hotel floor. I also want to note I had left a watch behind in my hotel room when checking out (we were in the city another few hours) and when I had returned to collect my bags they gave me my watch, I hadn’t even checked to realise I lost it. I know integrity is the bare minimum, but it was greatly appreciated that they had found it especially considering its value to me. Overall, it isn’t a bad hotel at all. I know we all have different standards, and maybe because I’m young I don’t notice these things as much and will happily brush them off, however I do feel this hotel is incredibly good value for money especially as with the majority of city breaks, you are not spending your whole life in that hotel room.  Please do not be worried about the reviews, I’ve attached a picture of the view from our room, which as someone who has spent summers in small little greek villages and travelled across Italy I adored it. Authenticity always wins for me! I hope this review may reassure some people, as i know i was panicking reading these! Please remember every experience is different, no two days are the same. My experience may not reflect yours, just like many others here didn’t reflect mine! :)

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