As already mentioned the location of this hotel is fantastic! Once we figured out the map, and got used to the confusing streets, we found that this hotel is perfectly situated to explore Rome. The Spanish Steps are almost right around the corner! A very good map is available at the front desk, and the staff are wonderfully helpful.

The room we had (#205) was a double with a wonderfully comfortable bed and air conditioning that worked. It overlooked Via Francesco Crispi, so there was intermittent noise at night. When we were there, the hotel was fully booked but very quiet – probably other hotel guests falling into their bed, exhausted as we did!!! Our room was very small, but it was immaculately clean. Bathroom was tiny too and shower was a bit of a challenge, but again clean and functional. Each room seems to have its own hot water tank, so we never ran out of hot water, except for the time that we shut the tank off by accident!!! Watch the switches on the bathroom wall!

We had breakfast at the hotel everyday, which consisted of orange juice, coffee, tea, croissants, buns, and a couple of pastry items. It was the same every day, so a bit monotonous, but excellent coffee. If you want an espresso or cappuccino, you just have to ask Lucia, who is tending to the breakfast area. There are many stairs in this hotel, with a extremely small elevator that you have to take some stairs to get to.

There is no safe deposit box in the room or available at the front desk, which was a bit of a worry, but we were fortunate to have no issues with our passports being stolen. It really feels like a small family-run hotel.

A wonderful thing about Rome is that the water is delicious. We carried water bottles with us everywhere and refilled them from the public fountains. Save your money on water, and spend it on the excellent wine and beer (ha)! There’s a small supermarket on the way to the Trevi Fountain, which was handy for snacks and the aforementioned wine. Ask at the front desk for directions to Despar. There are also many little restaurants, serving food that is familiar and delicious. My kids loved being able to eat pasta every day, but we sure enjoyed our potatoes when we got home! We liked the look of the sidewalk tables, but always chose a table inside in the air conditioning. On our last night, we dined at one of the many restaurants near the Piazza de Barberini.

It’s an easy walk to the Metro, which takes you one way to the Vatican or the other way to the Bus/Train Terminal. We booked a tour of the Vatican Museums with Viator. I would highly recommend this tour. There’s so much to see that we would have been overwhelmed and then not fully appreciated what we did see. Our tour guide was excellent, and you are given headphones, so you don’t have to be right beside her to hear her commentary.

We booked a “hop on, hop off” bus tour one day, which took us to the Colosseum and onward. The Coliseum was interesting, but I feel that we would have got more out of it if we would have booked either a tour or rented an audio guide. Same with the Roman Forum; we walked around, but really didn’t understand what we were seeing, and there isn’t a lot of information to be had on site. A good tip is to walk to the entrance of the Palatine Hill to buy your ticket for the Colosseum. The line is shorter here, so you spend less time standing waiting for your adventure to begin.

We took the fast train to Napoli and then the local train to Pompeii. It was very interesting, but again not a lot of information on site, so we were glad to have done some research ahead of time. Pompeii is a large area, so you can expect to do a lot of walking and it’s a full day excursion.

All the Roman people we encountered were so friendly and helpful, but be prepared to spend time standing on a street corner trying to figure out where you are on the map, and where you need to go. This was our first trip to Europe, so we were enthralled by the narrow streets, old buildings, business people on scooters and beautiful piazzas.