We had originally booked elsewhere but when I read the reviews (I know I should have done before) I bailed out pretty quick.

Mistook location of Valadier as thought it was closer to via Condotti near the Spanish Steps. The hotel describes its situation as being between Spanish Steps and Piazza Popolo - sort of bending the truth a bit as it IS really between the two but about 20 yards from Popolo and 4-500 metres from the Steps.

However, it was a good location and we certainly weren't bothered by the noise even though we stayed Thursday and Friday nights. Our main concern about noise related to an air conditioning unit directly situated on top of room 301, so whatever you do, dont accept 301 because it will probably keep you awake all night, and especially if you cant work out where its coming from it will drive you mad trying to find out - well, at least it did me in.

When I asked the next morning the response was an immediate transfer to room 402, so they must be entirely aware of the problem. 402 had one of the fabled mirrored ceilings and when I was at reception (without the missus) the next morning the receptionist asked in a deadpan sort of way how much we'd enjoyed the room. I could swear there was the inkling of a twinkle in her eyes. Anyway.........onwards.

We found the second room adequate, though tiny, especially the bathroom, but then we werent there for a luxurious stay, just to enjoy Rome and have somewhere clean and OK to sleep, which the Valadier suited well.

Drinks at the bar are very expensive and I wouldnt recommend it - just pop out and take a walk. Breakfast was very good with aq decent selection of good fresh breads, some hot stuff, fruit, cakes and cereals.

We did go for a drink on the charming roof terrace - all very modern and swish and very impressive. The view is fantastic. The food looked excellent although we didnt try it. There was a brand new super dooper multi thousand pound roof canopy which leaked like a sieve when it suddenly poured with rain and all the diners raced indoors for cover. If I was the owner I think I'd be asking for a hefty refund !

Otherwise, the all staff were friendly and helpful. The hotel is quirkyily designed. Very,very dark with hardly any windows, but it seemed very clean.

Just back from Rome where we stayed four nights in the Hotel Valadier. We were originally supposed to be staying elsewhere but it closed down so we had to book the Hotel Valadier very last minute. We were a bit anxious because we read other people's reviews saying the rooms were tiny.
When we arrived we found that Expedia had incorrectly booked us two double rooms when it should have been a double and a triple. The hotel very helpfully swapped some other people about to accomodate us. Our rooms were small but bigger than we expected. There was ample space for us. The room was on the fourth floor and was very clean. It was two twin beds even though it was supposed to be a double but we made do. The bathroom was clean with a bidet and a shower over the bath.
The hotel had a great location and we walked everywhere. It is about 30 minutes to colosseum and 30 minutes to vatican. It is just south of the lovely piazza del popollo and has a great selection of shops and restaurants close by.
On our first night we did not sleep until 2am as the bar on the hotel's terrace on the sixth floor was hosting a wedding. My partner went downstairs to see if we could swap rooms but as he descended downstairs he realised the noise was the same all over the hotel. I dont think it was very fair on people who paid to stay in the hotel to be bombarded by very loud wedding music until the wee hours of the morning - I dont know how anyone in the hotel would have slept until the wedding finished. We certainly did not which made us tired and irritable for our first proper day out in Rome.
Our first morning at breakfast did not go so well either. We were seated at a dirty table. There was no cutlery. We had to wait until we were almost finished breakfast before we were served tea/coffee by a very grumpy girl. The breakfasts did improve as we continued our stay, though first impressions count and our first impression was not good. They also need to fix their toaster as you have to put the bread through twice before it is done. Also they have fruit salad and half peaches on offer - but these are straight out of tins - they should put in a bit more effort to make fresh fruit salad.
We had drinks in the hotel on one of the evenings. We ordered three beers, one orange juice and one cocktail - the bill was 50 euro!! It was a standard 10 euro per drink - even for the orange juice!! Bit scandalous! So if you are drinking there in the evenings get cocktails - you might as well since you will be charged 10 euro no matter what drink you get. Apparently the excess cost is to pay the piano player - a piano player who is not particularly good or needed. They would be better served investing in a cd player, getting rid of the piano (it is actually a keyboard) player and reducing the prices of their drinks.
When we went to check out we ordered a taxi for 2pm. 2pm came and went and no taxi - we spoke to the man at the desk who told us he had mistakenly booked it for 2.30pm instead - this was an outright lie because he had confirmed earlier to us that it has been booked for 2pm - plus when we had booked it earlier that morning we saw him write 2pm down. There was a difficult customer at the desk around 2pm that we heard giving off and we strongly suspect he gave her our taxi to get rid of her. It made us late for our check-in time and we had to queue for check in for 40 minutes. Also I was struggling to lift my suitcase up the ten or so steps to the front door of the hotel while a porter just stood by and watched! I was a bit annoyed at this as I was clearly struggling.
With regard to tours of the Colosseum and Vatican - I would recommend booking with an Australian girl called Hanna Schneider - she is currently with Gladiator tours but is opening her own company soon with her partner called HM Tours - she is really good and much better than a lot of the other tour guides we saw.
With regard to restauarants - we cannot recommend this place enough - it is called La Capricciosa. Its is just off one of the main streets Via del Corso which runs down the centre of rome. If you are heading south on the via del corso it is on the right hand side just facing via della croce. The service, food and wine were superb!

I have to say that I am not one to write reviews (this being my first) after trips abroad but felt the need to after spending 5 days at this hotel. After being totally stupid at the airport (Fuimincino) and taking the first taxi which was offered at 90 Euros (should be more like 50!) we arrived at the hotel quite excited and in anticipation of what we'd find. Now, I did read the reviews before and in the main they are true. Our room had about a foot either side of the bed and absolutely nowhere to store your cases. The bathroom was so small that you can soak your tired feet in the bidet, whilst sitting on the loo, drying your hair and washing your hands (not advisable obviously but thats how small it was). We had one of the well reknowned mirrored ceilings which was a bit strange but my daughter and I shared a good laugh about it. What I didn't like was the fact that we had a room without much of a window and the small one we did have opened up directly opposite a boiler/engineering room so we couldn't really enjoy having the window open and we had to have the light on during the day as it was so dark!

We ate in the Hi-Res and the food was not impressive and the atmosphere left alot to be desired we found the food at Il-Brilo next door much better. The German pub next door is good also and very friendly.

The location of this hotel is what makes it something special as you're relatively close to most of the sites and have to say that most of the hotel staff are very friendly and helpful.

We had a lovely stay in Rome but wouldn't stay at this hotel again

Debbie & Ashleigh
Surrey

As mentioned in the other reviews, expect an awful lot of shiny black marble and mirrors in this hotel, including one on the ceiling! There was a distinct feel of being aboard a cruise ship, the room (on the top floor) was somewhat compact - there was enough room to swing a cat, but only just. The bathroom was particularly pokey, but entirely functional. There were a lot of stairs to negotiate, so I couldn’t recommend it for those with mobility issues. In terms of location, it was ideal for exploring the main sights of Rome: it is a short walk to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain; also just across the Piaza di Popolo is a Metro station, which will easily get you to all the other sights (Vatican City, Colosseum etc.) The roof-top ‘Hi-Res’ restaurant was very nice, with excellent food, an extensive wine list and it was not over-priced; but the piano bar on the ground floor was really expensive - €30 for 2 drinks! Altogether, it was a pleasant place to stay and explore the city from, but we will probably choose somewhere else next time.