We booked this hotel for our first trip to Rome to celebrate our Anniversary. We'd hunted round for something with a bit of character whilst still providing the Modern conveniences of modern hotels. We were not disappointed.

As many others have said, this is more of a guest house than a hotel. There are no porters or room service. It occupies half of the 1st floor of a block of residential apartments. You arrive to an innoculous looking doorway and wonder if you're at the right place. Don't panic though - you just need to press the "Residenza A" buzzer and someone will come down and let you in. As is is a small business, reception closes at 10pm - if you're going to arrive after this time, you'll need to contact them to let them know so they can arrange to be there to let you in! Our flight was delayed meaning we got there at 10:45 - fortunately there was someone there, but he wasn't impressed (until we explained about the delay).

The staff at the hotel are very welcoming and will do anthing they can to make your trip enjoyable. Top tip - contact the hotel in advance to arrange a car to collect you at the airport. We flew into Fiumicino airport and had to pay €60 (fixed price) for a cab to get into central Rome (which was terrifying!). On the way back the hotel arranged a car (nice comfy Mercedes) to take us back costing just €45 (again fixed price).

We were given room ML which is at the front of the hotel. We had no problem with noise from the road outside, and it was quite nice to watch the world go by on the street below and people coming and going from Cafe Strega. We did notice that there was quite a bit of light still coming into the room from outside during the night, but the next morning discovered that there is a switch outside the window to turn off the flourescent light which illuminates the hotel name etched onto the window.

The room was a good size and comfortable and the bathroom modern and clean. The decor was fresh and modern and the individual art that arorned the walls in the room and the corridor gave it a nice individual feel. The Apple Mac computer was very useful for checking email and booking restaurants during our stay. My only critisism is that the internet browser software could do with upgrading as it was struggling with a few of the more modern websites we were accessing.

The DVD player in the room was a nice touch, however the rental list at reception was a bit limited. I recommend bringing your own films if you want to use this facility (obviously European region discs only..) As with every other mainland European hotel we've stayed in, the choice of English speaking TV channels is limited to just one (in this case CNN), but it wasn't an issue for us, as we weren't there to watch TV.

The breakfast was included and I would say was the only weak point. The toast was toasted on one side only and seemed to be cold every morning. Also being british we like our tea, which lead to all sorts of confusion when we requested milk to go with it. One day I ordered cereal and again - no milk! Also Italian croissants aren't like French style ones, they come covered in icing sugar and often pre-filled with a fruit filling - very odd.. At the end of the day we put it down to the Italians just doing things differently - it wasn't a major issue for us.

The hotel is well located for getting around Rome. Barberlini metro station is a 5 minute walk (downhill) and about 7 mins back (uphill). All the major sights are walkable - we tended to walk in the morning and get the metro home in the evening. Worked out really well for us.

Overall, we were very happy with our stay and will definitely return when we're next in Rome.

Very good. Location is one of the best in Rome.
Clean and elegant rooms.
Public transportation is very convenient.
Electric bus stops outside the hotel and goes to nearly all the most known places in the city.
It is recommended, If you want a nice, clean and convenient place to stay.

After hours of searching on the internet I at last found a boutique style hotel in my budget. However, on arrival, after a very early start and a much needed shower, the room wasn't ready for another 2 hours. The guy on reception wasn't the brightest button and I was beginning to think that the Mariott down the road would be a better option!

Rooms are small, but have modern clean lines and the right look for Elle Decoration fans! Very clean too.

Would have been nice to have complimentary tea/coffee in the room plus all 48 TV channels are in Italian. Not that I came to Rome for the TV but would have been good to have BBC News or CNN in the morning at least.

All in all a good hotel but would probably try somewhere else if I went back to Rome.

I looked and looked and couldn't find any decently prices accommodations in Rome that fit into my budget. I'd splurged in Florence so I need to keep this just a bit cheaper.

Found Residenza A through the hotels-by.com site and then through its own site.

It seems like someone with half a floor decided to turn it into a little hotel. With just 7 rooms, there's not a lot of personal service, but what is there is pretty nice. The breakfast comes up form Cafe Strega downstairs if you order it in time, or you can go down and eat outside. Either one is great. Each room has an iMac, so you can look stuff up and while the rooms aren't big, they're fairly nice, with decent amenities.

They'll also make reservations for you to go to Galleria Borghese and get the tix for you, which is GREAT.

Unfortunately, the bad news is you're right down from teh US Embassy in a not necessarily night-life friendly area of Via Veneto, so you will have to take a train or a bus to get anywhere. Also, one of the lines that goes nearby (Barberini, I think) is closed till 09, so if you take the underground to go somewhere, make sure you know how to get back by bus if you go back after 9. My husband and I had a weird trip on a bus out to some bad 'burbs when getting lost on the way back from Termini one night.

Anyway, Residenza A is nice. I'll probably stay somewhere else next time I go to Rome, just so I can see another area, but for business travelers, or people who want to spend a lot of time in the Villa Borghese, it's a great bet.