This is a good hotel in a good quiet location, away from the immediate hustle bustle but still close to the heart of things. If you are healthy, you can easily walk to all the sites in Rome. Even the Vatican and Spanish Steps are not that far away; we never took a bus, a tram, or any other transportation.
Our room was somewhat small but the ceiling was high and the third floor view over the neighboring convent was pleasing, especially at sunset. Arguably the bathroom is nicer than the bedroom -- spacious, with a big shower, a friendly sky colored motif, and a big window for good ventilation. Moreover, the bed was good, not overly firm like most Italian beds. It was also a true queen rather than two singles pushed together which sadly is often the case for so-called matrimonial beds.
The walls were a bit thin, but our neighbors were mostly quiet. Also, even though the area is generally quiet, the convent bells begin ringing at 7 am; it might take a couple of nights to learn to sleep through them.
Breakfast was mediocre relative to other Italian hotels that we stayed in. But you can get a cheap and much better cappuccino and pastry at the nearest bar on Via di San Fransesco a Ripa and see a little of the local culture, especially between about 9 and 9:30 am. There is also an organic store near the bar and a little supermarket on Via Carlo Tavolacci where you can purchase fruit to round out breakfast. When the concierge saw us return with food one morning he seem to nod to himself as in "oh yes, they have figured it out" unlike the Germans hurrying down to breakfast room at the crack of dawn. Via di San Fransesco a Ripa also has a laundry.
Two minor issues. This hotel is stingy with soap. We had to share one little bar between the shower and the sink. After three days we had finally worked up to a nearly new bar in both the shower and on the sink. It felt like a triumph.
Then there is the internet. It's free but as in most Italian hotels it is a hassle. I don't understand why Italian hotels can't just hand out a WEP/WPA key and perhaps change it once a month or week. Instead many of them have subscribed to a tedious system where you receive a ticket with a username and password good for say 24 hours. Both the username and password are eight (or maybe nine) characters and contain a tedious mix of lowercase and numbers, more suitable to a bank or trading account than mere internet access. Moreover, the system automatically logs you out after some period of inactivity, perhaps an hour, and it often seems necessary to reenter the tedious username and password (I was using an iPod touch). And the same username and password can only be use for one device (MAC address) at once meaning you would need to get a separate one if say both you and your partner have communication devices. Moreover, if you switch between WiFi connections (technically SSIDs) to get a better signal, the system sometimes gets confused and will not even let you get to the http://1.1.1.1/info.html page that shows your connection status. One day I got things to work only by changing the MAC address on my device but inasmuch as that required a jailbroken device and technical know-how, it will be beyond most users.
