Don't do it! (Village Camping Flaminio)

Member Name: spykey_uk

Product:	Village Camping Flaminio
Date:	11/11/08 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap

Disadvantages: Miles from the town centre, grumpy staff and grotty accommodation

Unless you're a big fan of camping, don't go here (and even then think twice)! We booked through a third party website, and many features were advertised, such as a "free" shuttle bus to the airport, sofas and kitchens in every bungalow and a balcony with a park view. There were no sofas in any of the bungalows as far as we could see, and the balcony was just a table and chairs outside the cabin overlooking the other campers!

As for the "free" airport shuttle...we booked on it to pick us up from the airport, but when we got off the plane at 9am (10am there), after leaving the house in the UK at 2am, they had not bothered turning up. We then had to navigate our way across Rome, when only the metro was running (there was a public transport strike). The hotel itself was advertised as being 1km away from the Flaminio metro station, so we decided to walk from there (as there were no buses or taxis running). After walking for around 40 minutes, we stopped and asked a local policeman. He said that the website was lying, and that the hotel was at least 6-7km away from that metro station. Luckily, he was kind enough to give us a lift (I think we looked fairly down trodden by then).

When we finally did arrive at the camp site, the staff were so rude, even when we made the effort to speak Italian to them (they looked at us as if we were dirt). They even asked us how we had managed to get there with the strike on! Which would have been a reasonable question if they had not been supposed to pick us up!

We also noticed that the "free" shuttle to the airport actually costs 21 Euros per person, which is much more than a one week all transport pass for the whole of Rome! A slight misrepresentation me thinks!

When the public transport strike isn't on, its not a bad journey into Rome, but it is about twenty minutes by bus or mainline train. Its cheap and cheerful, and is basically a caravanning holiday, so don't expect anything more. We had a lovely holiday, but it was in spite of the location rather than because of it. I would urge you not to book a holiday at this site, but to go for somewhere more central, and hopefully more friendly (every other Roman we spoke to was so friendly and helpful, the unhelpful ones seem to congregate at this hotel!). The only nice member of staff there is the chap in the tourist information booth.

Summary: Not a nice place to stay.