HOTEL SECURITY: Firstly, extreme caution should be exercised in the immediate vicinity of the hotel, as our group did encounter numerous problems with pick-pockets. Placing a lock on your baggage is not sufficient protection, as we discovered that certain individuals carry blades with which to slash the material of a tourist's bag. Our group was therefore, greatly alarmed to find that the keys to our rooms were stored in a BOWL on the reception desk, adjacent to the open door. During our stay, we consistently retrieved our own keys upon entering the lobby, UNSUPERVISED, and could essentially have taken any key we wished.

HOTEL STAFF: Our group leader had mediocre Italian, but primarily we had hoped to deal with the hotel personnel through English. Things transpired very differently. On numerous occasions, we found ourselves berated loudly through italian by staff members, as a result of simple misunderstandings, e.g. taking a chair from one table in the lounge, to another. Their conduct was altogether rather hostile.

HOTEL FACILITIES: That elevator! What a horrible experience. Your options as a patron, are either to brave the countless flights of stairs to reach your room.. or to cram into a narrow, rickety cage, which bumps from wall to wall on its ascent. More alarming still- the lift door CAN be opened during its ascent/descent, and though it causes the elevator to halt, this is hardly safe.

HOTEL ROOMS: Though we weren't expecting anything luxurious.. the basic necessities in any room, weren't present. The leg of one of the beds inexplicably collapsed. The toilet seat was broken. The shower didn't work. This isn't acceptable, regardless of how cheap the accommodation is. Furthermore, the noise from the street outside was unreal. The street was cleaned nightly at 2am, while the rubbish was similarly collected at a ridiculous hour.

All in all, our stay at the Hotel California greatly detracted from our overall enjoyment of our time in Rome.

We stayed for 2 nights in this hotel and found it well worth the money we paid. The staff, although sometimes busy on the phone when attending to you, were very helpful even phoning a tour company for us.
The location is excellent being a good setting off point for the main attractions and close to Termini.
The rooms were basic but very clean with soap, shampoo, shower caps and a hairdryer provided. Wouldn't rate the air conditioning system and would hate to try it in the height of summer.
The pizza/pasta restuarants in the location were good.

Cant see what the problem is with this hotel.
location is on the right side of termini most convient if you arrive at termini i.e 5/10minutes walk max. good location for setting out site seeing.
rooms o.k. nothing special but clean bit laccking in lighting.breakfast contintental no problem getting extra juice/coffee.
liitl restuarant next door handy for afternoon drink
the,re quite happy to sell you 1/2 litre carafe of wine if thts all you want,couple of bruchettes with it make a nice tapas
newer transport to city worth noting
terravision. ciampino to termini direct and you can pre buy a return ticket for best value n.b. make sure you turn up early for the return trip.
cant recommend any of the areas retuarants, all typically touristy and too many pizza based.
best over the river in travestre but its quite a way

First of all, staying near the termini might not be a very good idea since it is a very crowded, noisy and congested area.
About the hotel, the worst hotel I have ever stayed at anywhere. The staff is not friendly and infact very rude. Even though they say they have air conditioning, the hotel is centrally air conditioned which means no "thermostat" in your room, which means they can turn the AC on and off when they wish too. The hotel owners would turn off the AC at 2 am in the nite, and repeated requests would not be heeded, instead we had the manager tell us "this is not your home". The rooms are clean, but very run down so you will find broken bulbs and wood trim missing on furniture. For the price we paid, 140 euros, you can find a better place to stay in Rome. Even though, we booked the hotel through a website, and the reservations were paid in advance, the hotel owners made us pay again and we have been charged twice on our credit card for the same stay. We are fighting it but it has been a big headache. Please do yourself a favor and do not stay here.
The elevator to go up to the 5th floor is very ancient and very small. I had my small kids with me and it was a very frustrating 2 day stay that we had. I will never stay there again ever.