Our hotel was at the top of the Spanish Steps so that's the first place we went to on arrival in Rome and a pushy flower vendor kept following me to give me roses all though I kept saying no. He finally managed to force 3 into my hand implying they were free. Then he followed us until we gave him money and he wasn't satisfied with the amount and an argument went on for 10 minutes and he finally grabbed back 2 roses as I had laid them down at this point, mortified by the whole ordeal, and he stormed off. So that put a damper on the rest of the evening. I don't know what the attraction to the steps are, there was no entertainment as other posters suggested, and not much to look at, and not many people there. So it was only a means of getting to and from the hotel.

Aside form the tips on the actual location which you can find in any guide, or by now even ask any of the sellers that hang around the steps, there is much to be said about the area around the Spanish Steps. It often happens that tourists are drawn to the steps for a night out (I guess thinking that it is the center of the roman nights) and ending up very disappointed, and hanging out for hours on the steps without knowing where to go. Surely it is not the center of roman nightlife but it's also not as boring as it may seem....there are a couple of wine bars in the near Via dell Croce that are worth visiting, and of course plenty of restaurants. I would also recommend to not be intimidated by the 4 or 5 star hotels in the area, they are not as stiff as they look and most of them have beautiful "cortiles" where you can enjoy drinks. I especially recommend the Hotel Locarno which recently opened one of the coolest bars in town, the Salotto Locarno, 5 minutes walk from the Steps...or if you want to have a drink in the more traditional roman way, walk down via condotti (directly ahead of the steps) and find the small Piazza in Lucina, where three bars are packed with apertivo-sipping romans from 6pm to well after dinner time...In short, take a look at the steps, they're gorgeous, find out why the fountain is in the shape of a ship, then get out and explore the area, nothing much will happen on the actual steps.....ciao!

the atmosphere sitting on the Spanish Steps was fantastic. great just to sit and watch all the goings on. lovely by day or night, as all flood lit after dark. on night of aug 3rd an open air opera concert took place, with 2 men and 2 women. after this there was a dance routine, which was brilliant. the crowd thoroughly enjoyed it all and it just added a lovely touch to a short visit of only 4 nights in Rome.

As many others say, "Yep! They're steps!" There IS a carnival-like atmosphere, and the hawkers are absolutely annoying to no end. Even after saying "NO!" and turning away, they actually followed us around! I wish I would have found a better way of dealing with these annoying hawkers.
That said, there are a lot of great restaurants (http://www.anticaenoteca.com/) and shops nearby, with the luxury brands closest to the bottom of the steps. The McDonald's there was terrible, very rubbery food and disgusting bathrooms. I usually love McD's, but this was bad.
Be sure to get a night view of the steps, as the fountain at the bottom is lit and pretty.