The Abitazione Pigneto is located in an apartment building in a beautiful tree-lined neighbourhood in the suburbs of Rome. It about twenty minutes from the Colosseum by bus, which you can catch at a bus stop just a two minute walk away (a line on that stop also takes you directly to Termini station). The bed and breakfast is run by Giorgio and his business partner Fulvio, who are gracious hosts. We stayed here three nights and had a great experience.
The B&B is actually an apartment with three bedrooms, a shared bath, a kitchen, a dining room, and an entrance hall. Giorgio and Fulvio live across the hall on the same floor, but the B&B was originally Giorgio's home and he still treats it as such. He loves the flat and the dynamic interplay of eclectic and colorful furnishings in each room, especially the artwork and artifacts littered everywhere, reflects it; it truly feels like a home and feels very "Roman."
Our room was large and had an extra day-bed in it. Our bed was low to the ground, but comfortable. There is a shared balcony for some of the rooms, which looks over the street and the neighbourhood. We didn't find it noisy at all, except for a few cars gunning their engines around mid-evening. It's a real neighbourhood, so your view and experience will be of a real neighbourhood, but this is not a drawback. You'll truly believe you're living in Rome instead of just visiting.
One thing: The neighbourhood around the Abitazione Pigneto is fine and very safe, even at night. There are families everywhere, along with nice restaurants, cafes, businesses, etc. tucked into the well kept-up apartment buildings. However, there are large groups of men that hang out at all times of the day around the bus stop area; this may be because there is a mosque or at least a men's meeting center nearby, but it is nothing to be particularly worried about. Cars and motorbikes in this area dart through the streets, too, and aren't very forgiving, so watch out!
We asked Giorgio to pick us up from Ciampino airport, as we would have had no clue how to get to the B&B on our own. While the pick-up price is a bit steep (25 euros for Ciampino, 35 for da Vinci), we've very glad we asked him. We got a very unique tour of greater Rome, including zipping around and through ancient aqueducts, and also gained a lot of insight on touring Rome from Giorgio.
He helps you with figuring out bus tickets, which are your key to the city, and also recommended a fabulous, 'real' Italian restaurant just a block from the B&B. Also, Giorgio insisted we get on the bus (either the 81 or 810) the moment we arrived to go see the Colosseum at sunset; it's a treat and very easy to do, and we're happy he suggested it.
Fulvio is the one who will typically take care of you -- he handles breakfast, cleans the rooms, and probably will deal with check-out or storing your bags for the day. He does not speak English, but does speak some French and Spanish; however, he's nice and the language barrier won't be a problem as long as you learn a few phrases in Italian.
Breakfast is very basic -- cheese, meat, butter, jam, toast, coffee, and juice -- and could be more. You can have it at whatever time you want in the morning, though, which was great. There are also numerous trattorias, cafes, restaurants, and markets in the immediate area, too, if you're ever looking for a quick snack or a late dinner.
We had a lovely time here. Giorgio and Fulvio are very kind, and have a vested interest in aiding travelers because they travel a lot themselves. This is much to their credit in making their us feel comfortable and helping us have a positive experience. Despite the somewhat long distance from the city centre, I don't think we could have had a better experience in Rome. Highly recommended.
