This ABB's Rose Room was intended to be the crown jewel of my vacation in Europe with my girlfriend. After traveling from France to Italy, Marco gave every indication that he was going to be actively engaged in listing sights to see, places to be, and local events. The actuality was rather different.
After writing 20+ times before we ever met, repeatedly telling us that he would show us around and make breakfast, I expected Marco to fulfill his enthusiastic words and at least meet us at the ABB. Instead, he tried to have us change our room the day before arrival and when we did arrive, he asked us to message him at Termini. We did not have WiFi and had to write him closer to the ABB, only half an hour later. We patiently waited next to the entrance and indicated no rush. When a man with kids arrived, we thought it was Marco. Instead, it was a "friend" who let us in, made us aware of a city tax that was not listed on the room's profile (we "owed" 21 euros for the three days of our stay), and took photos of our passports. When we did reconnect via messaging with Marco, the previously exuberant tone became contentious and we were surprised when Marco wrote "I told you to message me from Termini", which was contrastingly cold and rude.
Regarding the city taxes that we were "supposed" to pay... Researching this later on ABB's own website proved the opposite and set the tone for the remainder of our stay. The food was cheap and packaged. No fresh breakfasts were despite claiming to be a bed & breakfast. The room's air conditioner didn't work. There were ants. He allowed a cleaner to enter our room without informing us beforehand to retrieve a can opener. The bed was actually two mattresses, side-by-side, rather than one mattress. We never met Marco yet he continually contacted me through the app.
The art and the bathroom of the Rose Room are sublime, however they do not compensate for the rest of our experience and I am concerned that a stranger, unrelated to the listing, now possesses photos of our passports. Extremely disappointed.