We returned last week from a transatlantic cruise which ended in Rome. We stayed in Rome an addtional three days and it was excellent! Our hotel was the Star Michelangelo in the Vatican, three stars, large rooms, friendly staff and decent breakfast. It was a long walk to attractions other than the Vatican, but doable.The first day we took an on-off bus for an overview of the city. The one we took was Rome Open Tour, and I would definitely not recommend it; the narration was sparse and most of the headphones were not working. There are at least three other open tour buses and I recommend you try one of these! The traffic in Rome is crazy and you must be cautious when crossing the street. Rome is swarming with people, and I understand it's like that any time of year! Some of our favorites: Piazza Navona (at night when musicians perform), St. Peter's (awesome), Trevi Fountain and Pantheon (almost unbelievable!)
If you can afford it, I would recommend taking a private tour. In five hours you will learn more history and see more sights than on your own; we used Rome Limos Tours run by the Miglio family and it was fantastic. Rome is expensive for Americans, especially the restaurants. It is awe inspiring to see these ancient sights and the city is vibrant and exciting.

We stayed in this hotel in the middle of May. We booked 3 rooms. Two of the rooms had old carpet flooring and smoke smells lingering in the room (despite requesting non-smoking rooms). The other room had hardwood floors (nice), but an air conditioning system which worked at times and didn't at other times. The bathtub/shower was strange with the shower head installed on the horizontal and shower curtains that were not long enough for the entire tub. Otherwise, the washroom was clean. Walls were dirty and grimy.

Buffet was quite good, especially considering that it was included in the price of the room. The service of staff at the front desk was efficient, but was not overly friendly. In fact, they seemed to discourage questions. Transfer to the airport was expensive, and would not recommend it. (You can take public transportation for much cheaper if you don't have a gazillion bags like how we did). Staff was downright rude when we told him we would think about the airport transfer as the price was high. However, service improved later in the day when we asked for a good place to eat - staff was willing to point us to a good restaurant in the area. Service was variable.

If you want to see the Vatican, this is a good place to stay as it is close. It is also quite close to the metro. Found the location to be quite good considering the price.

Not sure if we would recommend this hotel given the variability in the room and service.

Before traveling to Europe I went into trip advisor and it helped me out picking up the hotels that I was going to stay. This is a great hotel, next to the Vatican, not a luxury hotel but really clean and good service, A/C was fine also. If you like to walk it is a 15 min walk to Plazza Novona.

I was satisfied with this hotel in all respects. It's not 5 star, but in doesn't claims to be. The room was fairly large for European/Rome standards. The bathroom had a full size tub with shower. We had a great view of the Vatican and a balcony. The only thing I thought the room was lacking was a safe. I thought the location was great. It's obviously a short walk to the Vatican, but all of the other sites are a fairly easy walk as well. The coliseum is probably the furthest site, but it's probably no more than a 30 minute walk. The only time we took a taxi was to and from the train station.