I am writing this review because I was recommending the Villa Hapsburg to a friend and stumbled across this website. My family and I stayed at the Villa Hapsburg for a week or so in the fall of 2007. It was wonderful. It was, of course, partly that Rome was wonderful, but the villa was magical (including the Apple Cider!). It is the case that if you ADORE the happy clappy customer service treacle that prevails in many places you might be put off. But presumably you didn't go to Rome to enjoy room service while watching HBO.
The villa is in a beautiful, peaceful location and has the kind of faded glory aesthetic that pervades the whole city. We all consider ourselves very lucky to have found it. (And as for the 10 page key management handout - it was hilarious [ and informative]. Lighten up people - jeeze).

This is not actually a hotel, it's a set of self-catering apartments. We stayed in the Piano Nobile (main floor). Our party consisted of ourselves, our children and my mother-in-law.

We had 3 huge bedrooms, each with a balcony with great views across Rome. The rooms were clean and the beds comfortable. We also had a large lounge and a huge kitchen-diner.

Our stay started at the end of March and we did have a couple of very cold evenings, but were well supplied with blankets. We got the impression that the building was designed more to keep the heat out in summer than for warmth in winter - it had wooden or marble floors, thick walls and shuttered windows - so if you're going at a chillier time of year do take warm clothes with you.

The location is amazing, literally just 10 minutes walk from the Colosseum yet set in the middle of lovely gardens. Much has been written about the plumbing, heating and electricity here but we followed the instrutions in the apartment and had no problems.

Just discovered this site, but it seems from other reviews that things haven't changed much and others have had similar experiences. Stayed in July 2006 for just under a week.

5 stars for the location, which is a genuine short walk down into the city. Views, at least from ground level, somewhat overstated. Not exactly quiet; the place seems to be above a main route to one of the area's hospitals, so the peace is regularly punctuated by those odd Italian sirens. Something which comes with the central location, I suppose.

3 stars for the actual accommodation. We stayed in a ground floor flat, which was adequate, but a little dark and the bathroom in particular was fairly dingy, with mould in places. A mish-mash of furniture, more substantial pieces mixed with the ubiquitous chipboard, for example in the kitchen.

0 stars for the the attention received and the attitude of the owner. She is straight from the Basil Fawlty School of Customer Relations, and clearly a star pupil. Her condescension was amusing at first, but when this turned to downright rudeness it ceased to be. Having previously insulted a colleague of mine at work and the whole of the south of Italy, she accused me of being "stupid" for having the temerity to try and change the time of a taxi to pick us up from the airport. Note the tone of her replies to other complainants.

Incidentally, in the time we were there we saw no-one else, neither staff nor representatives of the owner, nor any other guests. This is not a complaint, just a comment.

I hope these observations will make you make an informed decision as to whether or not to stay here.

Friends from Belgium invited us from Los Angeles, California to spend the week with them at the Villa Habsburg Porta Metronia in Rome, Italy. We found it to be beautiful and well maintained, with lovely gardens and spectacular views of the Baths of Caracolla. For history buffs, a large part of the old Roman city wall runs along one side of the property. It's located at the end of a gated, private driveway; just steps away from a city bus line. Our apartment was very large and easily accommodated the four of us. There was no air conditioning but the floor fans worked very well. We enjoyed the garden patio for breakfast every morning. The villa is very private, quiet and secure. Our visit to this charming villa was a unique experience and a place we will remember fondly.