I am a positive person. I try to be nice. However, as a kid I was taught that honesty is the best policy and experience has taught me that this is so. I have read many reports about Hotel Vibel, Viale dello Scalo S. Lorenzo, 97, Rome, Italy. I have just returned from a stay in this hotel and I will be forthright and honest about what I found. Please bear in mind my husband and I had researched this Hotel Vibel and paid in advance. It claims 4*. We could not comfortably afford to go elsewhere.
This hotel states it is not suitable for those with mobility issues. That, at least, is true. It also states that there is free Wi-Fi, each room has a safe and that it has a balcony and (very small) sitting room: these claims are also true. However, Hotel Vibel claims that it has a 24-hour reception. My husband and I arrived to find that the hotel was locked and there was nobody to answer the door.
I was about to phone my booking agent when an elderly man rushed up from behind us and opened the door. He spoke only Italian so I do not know what the explanation was. No member of staff spoke any foreign language. The reception was tiny, consisting of one untidy desk, with a certificate to show 4* at the back. We signed in and were given the key to room 10. The main door to Hotel Vibel is kept permanently locked, but we were given no entry key. Guests must depend on the unreliable staff for entrance and egress.
As Hotel Vibel is next door to a lap-dancing club and above a credit-card operated sex room, this would be a worry to many, particularly solo or female travellers. I was accompanied by my husband, but I was not thrilled by this. The noise from the lap-dancing club at the weekend kept us awake.
Our room was at the top of the hotel, up 3 flights of stairs. No assistance was given with our luggage. We were shown into a very grubby room. The curtain was not hung properly, the en-suite facilities were in poor repair, three out of the five light fittings worked (one of those three intermittently), the decoration was poor and there was a large cobweb swinging from ceiling above the wardrobe. Imagine our surprise when somebody else’s clothes were in the wardrobe! The elderly man re-appeared to remove the clothes. I understood him to say they belonged to another guest. Who knows?
Now, to breakfast. Well, on the first morning there was a jug of red juiceor water to choose from. I do not know what kind of juice it was, but it tasted nice. There was sliced, white bread, crackers, yoghurts, cheese, salami, cereals and cakes to choose from on a buffet basis. The member of staff (who was also purportedly on reception on the ground floor) made fresh coffee. It was good coffee, but as they spoke no language other than Italian, getting coffee the way we wanted it posed a challenge. I mention the language issue because I have never been to a 4* hotel before where no member of staff spoke no language other than their native language. My husband and I can managed in French and German as well as English, but neither of these helped. Other guests from Spain and Portugal were no more fortunate.
The second morning breakfast was more limited, less bread in the basket, only two flavours of yoghurt, fewer crackers and less cake. We should have been grateful, the next day there was no bread and the toaster had been removed. We were never offered bread again! The following day the jug of red juice was empty. I held it up questioningly to the woman dealing wth breakfast.”Finito.” She stated flatly before she turned away. The staff were singularly miserable.
Enough of breakfast. Hotel Vibel claims to have a bar and serve drinks. It does not. It says it has room service. It does not. It states that rooms have a mini bar. They do not. There was an empty refridgerator in our room. If we wanted anything into it by the hotel, we had to buy it at high prices. There are no complimentary items to eat or drink provided by the hotel, indeed, our room did not even have a glass in it, let alone anything to drink.
Often the used towels in our room were removed and not replaced. At one point we were down to one bath towel between us! Oh, and do not take a shower is after dark. The water is solar heated with no electric back-up, so after dark the water is extremely cold!
I can only assume that the 4* Hotel Vibel claims are self-awarded or confirmed by the owners mother! The hotel is dirty and I would struggle to award more than one star: that would be for the free Wi-Fi. I am angry as I feel that I was duped into booking this hotel by false claims and overly-generous reviews. I do not recommend Hotel Vibel.
Valerie Penny
Val Penny's Hotel and Restaurant Reviews 