would recommend hotel panda - VERY small so be forewarned, took a little bit of getting used to for two americans used to our huge hotel rooms. However staff was friendly and helpful, room was quiet and very clean (impressed with cleanliness actually), bed comfortable, and location superb. Also although it was very small, room was well appointed (esp. bathroom), plenty of places to put stuff. oh yes and shower was excellent, plenty of hot water and good water pressure.
oh yes and it was a little hot in our room (lucky us we were in italy during a heat wave), anyways asked for ac to be on - receptionist initally told us it is only on from 6-10 (???) - anyway stayed on all night and kept us comfortable. oh yes and remember that window has to be closed before ac works - not sure how they do it, but makes sense.

After leaving the Spagna train station we easily found Via della Croce and our Hotel. We stayed at Pensione Panda. Check in was easy. We didn't think our room would be ready, we were just going to leave the bags, but it was ready so we changed and cleaned up a bit and then headed out. I have very mixed feelings about Pensione Panda. The hotel is in a great location. We easily walked to must of the major sites and it was nice to have the train station as well as buses nearby. The first room we had was #20, a double room with a bathroom, which was right next to the check in desk and steps to go outside. It's window opened up right over the main street. Of course we slept with the window open it being pretty warm in Rome. That night was so bad for me. The noise on the street all night long was way too loud. That morning I asked if there were any quieter rooms and with no problem at all they let us move to #36. which was all the way at the end of the hall. It had a little spiral staircase to go up and had an additional bed for a third person. The room was larger, the bathroom was larger too. It had nice exposed wood beams. The window opened out to just other buildings and courtyards and it was amazing how much quieter it was. We had a very uneventful stay there From 9/11 - 9/15. The room was always cleaned, new towels, firm yet comfortable bed, etc. We paid 108 euros/night and I made the reservations directly via email about 8 months in advance. Here's where the trouble came.... I also had made reservations (at the same time) for our last night in Italy 9/24 with them. When leaving on 9/15 I confirmed that with them. I also called from Capri on 9/23 to let them know I would be arriving around 10 pm on 9/24. Wouldn't you know that when we arrived on 9/24 at 9:45 and checked in they gave us the keys for #26. We walked into the room to find a tiny single bed. I had in writing that I had reserved a double room. The man said that was the room that was assigned to me by the woman who runs the hotel, and that there were no other rooms available. I of course demanded as nicely as possible that something must be done about this. He made a few calls and found us another hotel to stay at in our price range, called a cab and gave us 20 euro to pay for it. We arrived at the other Hotel - Hotel Azzura near the Barberini Metro stop around 10:45 pm, the ride cost 13 euro. The man who runs the hotel, Renato, was very nice. However the hotel was very old, rundown, on a dirty street with not so nice looking people hanging around outside. We told him we needed to leave at 6 am which lead him to instructing us how to open the doors since they would be locked for the night at midnight. I asked about a wake up call and he pretended not to understand. We were starving and had been traveling all day, so we headed out to get something to eat. He said we needed to be back by midnight. I was so looking forward to this last night of our trip and our last night in Rome and now I couldn't even stay out late and see the city. When we got back at midnight I asked Renato in Italian about a wake up call, and he said he didn't do those, and he'd be sleeping at 6 am. He proceeded to take 30 mins to find me a tiny little clock, that wound up not alarming at all. We paid 100 euro for this room. I am so upset that after being a good customer at Panda and already having paid them for 4 nights, making reservations in advance, confirming countless times, them not having my room and then having them force me to stay at a place they had to know was not the greatest, was just inexcusable. Other hotels know things about other hotels, right?? The guy did try at Panda I suppose, he gave us the 20 euro, and apologized and really it wasn't his fault as he just worked the desk but still. Businesses shouldn't be that way. I've taken many trips (this being my 2nd to Italy and 3rd to Europe) and never had something like this happen.

We stayed at Hotel Panda for 4 nights during our honeymoon in May 2009. We knew going in that we were staying at the Hotel Panda because it was cheap and we liked the location. That being said I can say little good about the place besides it was clean, had a nice location, and was somewhat quiet.

Our room didn’t have a clock, radio, or tv which was fine, but it was literally a bed, night stand and chair in the room. Kind of like a clean prison cell (from what I have heard)! You had to buzz out twice to leave the building and I joked to my wife that it seemed we were buzzing out of jail. Also, our hallway had a funky odor.

The front desk staff was somewhat dysfunctional and I never saw the same person twice. They also weren’t very friendly. I asked about the internet and they said I would need to come to the lobby to get a signal (the lobby was smaller than my bedroom with a weird couch…seemed like a college apartment).

We will probably return to Rome again, but we would surely upgrade from the Hotel Panda. If you need a clean room in a nice location for 100 euro a night… its not to shabby.

Great location to Spanish steps, and close to the metro. Good neighborhood.

Room was TINY!!!!! Dirty floor, otherwise clean, but that was the norm for the hotels we stayed in during our month long stay. Good bathroom, small shower typical of European hotels.

Little pricy for the room we got. We stayed in much nicer places for less--although not in Rome.