I can't say I'd rush back to this hotel. We booked for 5 nights and had only booked the week before so weren't expecting the best room naturally and so we weren't disappointed. It was at the back overlooking an inner well and with a generator outside which was ok if you didn't open the window. They were nice enough to give us a bowl of fruit in our room, however, as it was our anniversary and I felt the staff were trying very hard.
The hotel does have it's pluses: a roof terrace bar with wonderful views, helpful staff, a central position and bright ,elegant decor (even if the marble is imitiation, and on closer inspection, you feel it's been done on the cheap). Another plus, this hotel is not far from Giolitti's the fantastic ice-cream parlour..I highly recommend this, especially the Pompelmo Rosa (Pink grapefruit) which is not easy to find elsewhere!
However, the rock hard beds made our lives a misery and I didn't get one full nights sleep, tossing and turning, then awaking every morning with aching hips even though I folded a spare blanket into 4 lengthways and put it between myself and the mattress. I had noted that someone else on here had complained about the beds but felt it was worth the risk as it might have been a one -off. I was wrong! I felt permanently tired throughout our stay as a result. The breakfast looked good, but the rolls (poor quality for Italy) and croissants felt tired as if they were yesterdays left overs on three mornings. The coffee was the worst I've ever had anywhere, it was like dark brown water. We asked for stronger coffee and it was marginally stronger so I opted for tea after that. The fruit salad on offer was all tinned (except for one morning when it was finely chopped fruit) and the fruit juices were all with added sugar, so I had to give them a miss as I'm marginally diabetic and on the last morning, when I tried it again I'll swear it was an orange 'drink' rather than juice. There was scrambled egg avaliable, but was positioned almost behind the counter as if you weren't encouraged to have it and it was rather unappetising to look at ,though fine to taste. The staff were very efficient at clearing away, almost too much so, and in view of the other 'economies' it made me wonder if they had enough crockery to go round! We should have eaten breakfast out on reflection, especially as the 'best coffee in the world' at Tassa D'Oro is just round the corner. The nearby cafes are not cheap, being opposite a top tourist attraction. Strangely we didn't find many places to buy a snack or sandwiches around the Pantheon, you really had to search, though there were plenty of restaurants, so this didn't immediately spring to mind as it might have done in, say, Venice. There is a supermarket nearby off the other side of the piazza, which is handy for picnic food, though it's sandwiches were rather boring. On this trip we felt on the whole that there was an air of economy, not just at the hotel, but at the restaurants we chose, good food certainly, but not very much of it unlike other holidays we'd had in this city when the Romans seemed generous. We'd heard from a cab driver that Romans were feeling the pinch and were rueing the loss of the Lira in favour of the Euro, so perhaps that explains it.
All this hotel needs is better beds and a better breakfast to make it work. If you can sleep anywhere and you don't mind going out for breakfast this hotel is very well sited and might be worth your while.
