Location

Mercure Roma Centro Termini is very close to Rome’s major public transport facilities. Roma Termini, the main train station in Rome, is about 15 mins walk from the hotel, and the nearest Metro station is Repubblica station, which is about 5 mins on foot. There are several shops and restaurants within a stone’s throw of the hotel, and even a supermarket diagonally opposite the hotel. The hotel’s location is superb for exploring the attractions in Rome. The Colosseum and Roman Forum are about 10 mins walk from Mercure Roma Centro Termini, but attractions like Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the shopping districts near Spanish Steps are a tad further, about 20 mins walk from Mercure Roma Termini. We chose to stay at Mercure Roma Centro Termini due to its proximity to Roma Centro Termini Station, which gave us the convenience of moving interstate and to Roma Fiumicino airport. We find it weird that the main entrance to Mercure Roma Centro Termini is located in a small alley at the side of the hotel. The other entrance (which we used to enter the hotel on the first day), located along the main street, is the entrance to the restaurant on the hotel’s premises.

The Junior Suite

We checked into the Junior Suite at Mercure Roma Centro Termini, which feels like your standard run-of-the-mill hotel room. The decor of the suite was functional, and felt a little tired. We were expecting an enlarged standard room like Junior Suites in most hotels. Instead, the 35m² Junior Suite at Mercure Roma Centro Termini has a dedicated living room and a large common balcony that was shared with the room next door.

Living Room

We were greeted by a smallish living room when we entered the Junior Suite at Mercure Roma Centro Termini. The parquet flooring with a white colour wall living room is an elongated room that allowed us to lounge around with our friends staying in the other rooms in the hotel. The decor in the living room is very simple, and there are no decorations in this part of the suite. The Junior Suite at Mercure Roma Centro Termini furnished the living room with a three-seater sofa placed against the wall, capable of converting into a bed. The sofa bed enabled us to watch TV comfortably. I thought it was an excellent idea for the hotel not to furnish a coffee table in the living room. Having it would make the already cramped living room smaller.

A 42″ LED TV is mounted on the wall opposite the sofa. There are numerous entertainment options from local TV stations if one is fluent in Italian. Unfortunately, we only found one English music channel out of over 500 channels on the TV. A work desk sits by the wall near the TV and is cluttered with a kettle, complimentary coffee and tea and a telephone. The limited available space on the table barely allows guests to do any decent on the work desk. The power outlets on the wall, a tad far from the table, seem to signal guests to relax and not work while staying at the hotel. A small mini fridge tucked nicely under the work desk provided limited space for chilling beverages. However, the mini fridge did not seem to be working well during our stay, and we found leaving our drinks out on the balcony a better way of chilling drinks (given it was early winter in Rome during our travels). The in-room safe is the most out-of-place item in the living room. Placed on top of the mini fridge, next to the main entrance to the Junior Suite at Mercure Roma Centro Termini and in plain sight of anyone visiting the suite. The safe does not assure us that it would be able to keep our valuables safe.

Bedroom

A door separates the living room from the bedroom in the Junior Suite at Mercure Roma Centro Termini. I was glad to find a larger living space in the bedroom compared to the living room. It makes sense for the hotel to allocate a larger space in the bedroom as we would spend most of our time in the bedroom, given the hotel’s limited real estate in its Junior Suite. The use of an open wardrobe, though it did not provide much privacy, contributes to the spaciousness of the suite. The large wardrobe provided us with tons of space to hang up our clothing, but the absence of drawers limited the number of smaller items we could store. The comfortable king bed occupied most of the space in the bedroom, providing us with excellent sleep quality. However, I do find the pillows supplied by the hotel to be a tad soft for my liking. Accompanying the king bed are bedside tables, which gave us space to charge our mobile phones. There wasn’t much space on the flimsy grey stool-like bedside tables, fortunately, the hotel uses hanging bedside lamps, which freed up precious space on the tables. Another smaller TV is mounted on the wall facing the king bed. The mounting of the TV seemed fragile, half the time, we were worried that the TV might drop off any time (luckily for us, it did not). We found the bed bench in the corner of the bedroom, just outside the bathroom entrance. Unfortunately, the bed bench did not seem to serve any useful function other than giving us space to place our luggage. Mercure Roma Centro Termini did not furnish this Junior with any luggage rack, and we had to make do with what we had.

Bathroom

The bathroom in the Junior Suite at Mercure Roma Centro Termini is the most disappointing part of the suite. The bathroom decor seems to be in contrast with the rest of the suite. The open sink countertop fitted by the bathroom entrance did not offer us much space to stow our toiletries, and installing an oversized sink that took up the bulk of the countertop space did not help give us more space. The bath amenities provided by the hotel are a far cry from luxury. The bath amenities, other than looking cheap, have an overpowering musky smell. As with the other hotels we stayed at during our trip to Italy, Mercure Roma Centro Termini installed a bidet and toilet by the bathroom wall, opposite the sink. We found towels hanging on the rack next to the toilet. I was glad the hotel allocated ample space for the semi-open walk-in shower with consistent water temperature and pressure. I thought this part of the bathroom was best designed as we did not find water splashing out despite the semi-open design of the walk-in shower.

Balcony

We were surprised to find a large balcony in our Junior Suite, spreading across the entire length of the Junior suite and the standard room next door. Granted, we did not have the best views from the balcony, but we found the balcony to be a great place to chill out with our friends, with whom we shared the balcony occupying the room next door. Luckily we knew the occupants next door, I thought it might be awkward if some strangers were staying next door as there is no segregation of the balcony between the rooms. The balcony in the Junior Suite at Mercure Roma Centro Termini was thoughtfully furnished with two armchairs, a side table, and a dining table for four, allowing for some form of communal living with our friends next door.

Service

Despite the flaws with the room and the weird main entrance, service was impeccable throughout our stay at Mercure Roma Centro Termini. Gianluca was the only one we met and interacted with during our three-night stay at Mercure Roma Centro Termini. We were warmly welcomed by Gianluca when we checked into our rooms. He was personable and generous in sharing information about the hotel and Rome. His strong local knowledge allowed him to give us excellent suggestions on what to see and how we could efficiently visit the major sights in Rome. Gianluca was also not stingy in helping us differentiate between authentic Italian restaurants and touristy ones. He would always greet us with a smile and chat with us whenever we walked past the reception. Gianluca even helped us solve our issue when we causally mentioned we had a hard time dragging our luggage on the uneven Roman street roads from Roma Termini Station. He helped us get a van to the airport at a rate that we thought to be reasonable (it would have cost us roughly the same amount if we were to take the train to the airport). Gianluca made us feel very welcome during our stay with Mercure Roma Centro Termini.

Overall

The location of Mercure Roma Centro Termini was great for exploring Rome. The Colosseum and public transport were within minutes walk from the hotel. The neighbourhood felt safe with some light shopping options, and a supermarket across from the hotel adds to the advantage of staying at the hotel. Granted, the room’s decor was a tad boring, and the suite did not feel luxurious, but our stay in the Junior Suite at Mercure Roma Centro Termini was comfortable. We were glad we met Gianluca during our stay in the hotel, who provided valuable local knowledge about Rome and made us feel welcome. Overall, we had a great stay at Mercure Roma Centro Termini.