Just returned from a six day visit to rome staying at Hotel Lancelot in capo d'africa.
The hotel had made the arrangements for me to be picked up at the airport by their recommended driver, so no worries about taxi fares,what had been quoted was the price I was charged, he was there on time and gave a very good commentary on the various sites we passed.
I received the usual very warm welcome by the hotel reception staff and the desk formalities were completed quickly and efficiently.
My room on the 4th floor overlooked the rear courtyard and was furnished with several antique pieces. It was complete with air conditioning, TV , internet connection, hair dryer.
Breakfast at the hotel is buffet style with a variety of meats, cheese, cereals yoghurts and fresh fruit and the evening meal is three courses including wine and coffee. People with special dietry needs were catered for.
during my stay five people celebrated birthdays and they were surprised at dinner with sparkling baked alaskas accommpanied with appropriate music and champagne for all guests!!!
Ideally situated close to the Colosseum, the Forum, Domus Aurelius, San Clemente and San Giovanni in Laterano, Baths of Caracala and Circus Maximus. If walking is not your 'thing' there are excellent transport facilities, bus tram within two minutes walk and the Metro about 5 minutes away.
Over the years that I have stayed at the Lancelot I have met people from all over the world, many of them like myself are return visitors, the visitors book is fascinating to read and makes the world so much smaller.
Whilst I have been there this September The New English Orchestra and choir were staying there and the management arranged for them to give a free performance for the guests, what a bonus!!
For me and I know for many the Lancelot is THE only hotel to stay at in Rome.

We booked the Lancelot for a six night stay in June. I don't have anything terrible to say about the place. I don't have anything wonderful to say about it either. And to be frank, I think the rave reviews it has received are very exaggerated. We are a married couple in our early forties stealing a couple of weeks away from the kids. We stayed at Ca' Angeli in Venice and in Antica Torre di via Tornabouni in Florence and loved them both. We expected to love the Lancelot too. We didn't.

I'll start with the positive, to give the management their due. The room was clean, breakfast was good, and the library and TV lounge were pleasant enough. We had dinner at the hotel one night, and had a lovely time with a family that I ended up visiting in India a month later. The staff was highly professional, if very busy, and fixed a broken phone and a running toilet in our room promptly. The neighborhood has one good traditional neighborhood restaurant and there is an Indian place not far away (we were a bit sick of pasta by that time).

So why did we move? First of all, whoever says this place is centrally located is just full of it. It is close to the Coliseum, but on the other side of it from the rest of the attractions of Rome. It is a long, and, in June, hot walk back home from anywhere else, even the far side of the forum. In March we might not have minded, but in June we definitely did. We ended up moving to the Albergo Santa Chiara, which was one of the most centrally located hotels in Rome, from which we could walk anywhere.

Also, this is not a boutique hotel or anything like it. It is larger than that, and is patronized largely by tour groups of senior citizens who like the English speaking ownership and staff. Indeed, the tour operators are so familiar with the place that they will step behind the desk and try to help out when no one else is there. For these folks and for the families with children, the place is great. For us, not so much.

Our room was quite small and in no way remarkable. It had a few pieces of beat up furniture and a TV. We had a balcony with two chairs, but it was hot out so we didn't use it. The bathroom was so tiny that it had a folding door. Forget trying to get more than one person into the bathroom. Also, the plumbing stack ran right through the wall between our bedroom and bathroom, which meant that we could hear a cascade of water every time the folks in the rooms above us flushed or took a shower. We could also hear every conversation in the hallway. Basically this meant that we didn't sleep for an hour after we turned off the light, until the folks at the bar downstairs went back to their rooms and settled down for the night. And we were awake with the first shower of the morning.

But more than anything else, I remember wondering what exactly we were paying for. It wasn't location. It wasn't privacy and a romantic decor. There wasn't anything special about this place. So we paid a bit more and moved to the Santa Chiara, which had a bigger, quieter room, a much better location, more elegant common spaces, and where we felt like we were in Rome, not London.

My husband and I have just come back from a ten day stay at the Lancelot last Sunday night. We had a room on the first floor with terrace and fairy lights overlooking the street. Only downside was that at about seven each morning the bin and bottle men came to empty the containers in the street. This made a huge noise. Not the hotel's fault but it saved us using an alarm clock!

Mrs Khan and staff very friendly and helpful. Receptionists are beautiful and friendly. We took a trip to Hadrian's villa and Tivoli and the receptionist ran off the times of the metro and trains there and back for us.

They sell bus tickets at reception and as the stops are nearby we used the bus many times. Lots of places to eat nearby which meant that you could just walk back to the hotel. We were collected at the airport by Giovanni who was very proud of his city and told us a lot of the history. He also took us back to the airport and the fare each way was fifty euros.

Bed and pillows very, very comfortable. The air conditioning in the room worked well and as the temperature was in the nineties all the time we were there we were very glad of it. Yes, the bathroom was small but the shower was a double one and all facilities worked fine. We ate at the hotel twice in the evening and enjoyed the meal and company of other guests. Mrs Khan's son does the cooking. Breakfasts were good with a choice to fit all tastes. The wine served at dinner was Lambrusco and it's been a long time since we had drunk this wine.

Beward of pickpockets and conmen in Rome. My husband had a map pinched from his back pocket at the Forum and we had an interesting encounter with a Frenchman in a car who said he worked for Valentino and offered us a jacket each - worth one thousand euros by the way! He then said he needed money for fuel to get to Milan. He had worked hard on his story and it must work for him. We also heard of two people who had travelled in on the bus with us, one had a crutch with them. and then develped badly turned in feet when in place on the street and begging.

If we go back to Rome we would stay at the Lancelot again, it has a family feel about it and is not impersonal like big chain hotels are. The flower arrangements in the public areas and bar are gorgeous too, beautiful. We loved our time there.

Four of us stayed at the Hotel Lancelot for 4 nights in August 2008. It was myself, my fiancee and my grandparents who are in their mid 60s. The hotel went above and beyond my expectations. The rooms were small but nice, many of them having personal balconies with views of the Colosseum. The staff were soooo friendly! They would call for taxi's, help us find certain tourist attractions on the map and offered advice for good shopping.

The location is superb! Only blocks away from the Colosseum with many pizzeria's and gelatto bars nearby. Or if you wanted to stay in, the hotel would serve a 3 course meal for 25 euro per person, which included wine. I am not a wine person, but fell in love with the wine they served. Upon checking out, Fabrizio gave us a bottle to take home with us as a gift. Now thats what I call good hotel hospitality!

When we go back to Rome, we will definately be staying at the Lancelot!

(The only negatives I found were the bathrooms were quite small, even for Europe.)