Lovely unusual hotel. Clean, nice basic room. Nice breakfast. We walked everywhere. No need for buses/tubes! Wear comfortable shoes. We had our meals out in the local restaurants. Don't dress like tourists...this is a smart city! Sunday morning service in Vatican is on TV, relayed on a tannoy outside the bedroom window, or better still, come out of hotel, turn left......walk for two minutes and watch it live! Best holiday I've had. Beautiful city!

We stayed at the Columbus Mar 7-10, 2009. The hotel is located 200 yards from St.Peter's Basilica. You can walk (25-30 mins) to the centre of Rome, e.g. Trevi Fountain, but may need to get a taxi back, as it can be tiring. A taxi would cost circa 15 Euros one way. An alternative is to buy a hop on/off bus ticket - the buses stop right across the road from the hotel. Haggle for a 48-hour ticket - we got ours (19 Euros each) for the same price as the 24 hour ticket.
At night, the area around the hotel is very quiet, with limited restaurants in the streets opposite the hotel. Again, it may be an option to walk to the centre for dinner and getting a cab back. We didn't try the hotel restuarant for dinner as it looked like it would cost circa 70 Euros per head.
Our room (416) was spacious and clean, and looked out onto the central courtyard - so was also very quiet.
The continental breakfast was excellent and sets you up for the day!
The staff at the hotel were always friendly to us - I often find that being polite and friendly yourself pays dividends!
Overall, we had a very pleasant stay and my only reservation over using this hotel again would be its non-central location.

I am always amazed at people's expectations when I read some negative reviews. This is a lovely hotel in a 15th century cardinal's palace. We had nothing but friendly helpful service from the staff, ate an incredible dinner in the hotel restaurant, and although the rooms are somewhat dark and spartan (it was a priest's residence, remember, not Las Vegas), they are clean, have a lovely view and we found it very quiet. Also the hotel is in a great location, just steps away from St. Peter's. If you are looking for marble bathrooms, plush amenities, high-speed Internet, and glamour, this hotel is not for you. If you are looking for a historic lodging in a lovely spot with helpful staff, this hotel IS for you.

There is no doubt that the location near the Vatican is wonderful. It is a good 30 minute walk though, from the restaurants area (Travestevere) and you need to cross the river for other main sites i.e. Colosseum, Trevi fountain etc. so make sure you have good walking shoes. As said in previous reviews, the hotel lets itself down which is a real shame. Staff as helpful as they want to be. The rooms are small , dark, very basic and in need of refurbishment. One can imagine what it was like for the original monk occupants. Brighter light bulbs would help. Our room fronted onto the road leading to the Vatican which you could see when leaning out of the window. The double mattress was excellent though, being memory foam I think. You do need to take your own kettle or hair dryer. Floors are tile only so take slippers. Only 2 English channels on rather old TV, BBC 24 news & CNN news. Breakfast disappointing and appeared done for cheapness. No hot cooked breakfast available to set you up for the days sightseeing. There is internet wifi in the bar area if you have a laptop or 2.5 euros per hour for use of hotel internet computer (x2). Meals in Rome are very expensive and seemed to be pizza & pasta only. A lunchtime small cheese & tomato roll and coffee 10 euro each! A slice of pizza 8+ euros but then we were in the centre of Rome. Vatican museum is 14 euros to go in so we gave that a miss. Ideal hotel perhaps for religious groups visiting Vatican.