Gondola Hotel and Suites - Amman

Enjoyed every bit.

Well worth a stay, the Amman Pasha Hotel has superb, friendly staff. They looked after parking our car, allowed us to stay in the rooms for a late check out at no extra cost and gave great tips on things to do. The hotel charges a very modest rate and so you don't expect everything to be 100%. That was the case. One room was rather smelly - the other was fine (both rooms were huge). Neither had soap in the bathroom, nor were there plugs for the baths. The lift (elevator) was a little daunting - but worked OK. We didn't use the roof terrace, but might have done so if we'd stayed longer. Nor did we eat in the restaurant (reputedly very good). Well worth considering.

In general, very good for the price. Very friendly staff looked after us well. We arrived very late, but the staff went out to check whether a restaurant was still serving (it was). The rooms were clean and the heating worked (important in the cold season). Everything was fine that - after we said that we were going out for a walk to see the sights (10 minutes from the hotel) and would be back later, they opened our rooms and left the keys in the doors with all our possessions inside. Nothing was taken, but there was a risk.

We felt very welcome. Our room was clean and comfortable. Great value and we would not hesitate to stay at the Toledo again.

Overall, a good place to stay. We stayed on executive level so had access to executive lounge, which was open for food and drink at periods throughout the day and came in handy several times. Immediate area is fine with some good local cafes. One caution: upon arrival there is a bag scanner in the entrance annex that is just likt the ones at an airport( which is normal there). Visitors should be sure that all of their items come all the way through the scanner and that you leave that area with all of you possessions. Twice we had items that did not emerge at the other end and we left the vestibule without them. Luckily we realized this within a few minutes and went back and sure, enough, they turned the belt on and out came our items. We found this a bit disconcerting especially because on the first night our daughter got to her room to disciver that her iPad, which had been in an iPad-sized purse, was missing. Since she couldn't remember whether she carried it out of the cab, we assumed she left it in the cab. However, the two incidents described above gave me pause to wonder . . . In general, though, i was reassured by a close friend who is living in Jordan that "Muslims don't steal," and that the iPad was probably dropped somewhere and whoever found it would not know how to return it to its owner. The rest of our experince was consistent with this view and we did not worry about the security of ourselves or posessions. But we did learn to keep very good track of them.