We stayed for 2+ weeks, and the Hotel Panda was the worst hotel experience of our lives. My best friend stayed at a youth hostel in Berlin, which was much better for a fraction of the price and compared Hotel Panda to a youth hostel in Rio, which cost even less than the Berlin hostel. We have also stayed at an infinitely better place for less in Tokyo, the most expensive city in the world, and we live in NY, the second most expensive city in the world. We have also stayed at 4 star hotels in San Fran for the same price. In 2+ weeks, the bedsheets were only changed twice during our stay (you can tell, cause the sheets get wrinkled, and clean sheets are crisp), the towels were also not changed on a daily basis (they even just took a towel that was on the floor and placed it on top of the other towels on the towel bar), the sink was only cleaned once after 2 weeks, and the floor and everything else not at all. On a daily basis, someone only made the bed and took out the trash. The shower tiles were filthy, and there were puddles on the bathroom floor. They also ran out of toilet paper and had no replacement roll at one point. The only thing provided in the room were 2 small packages of harsh soap. The room is miniscule (and I'm coming from the viewpoint of a New Yorker used to the tiniest closet apartments in the states). The "double" bed was actually the size of a twin, and the room wasn't much bigger than the "bed," which was actually a futon placed against the wall, which had a wooden board glued/nailed on it to make it look like a headboard. The futon dipped in the middle. The pillows were also so uncomfortable that I slept without one the entire time. I was expecting the size of the room, but the uncleanliness was ridiculous. I found a dead bug on the bed the first day and another kind of insect crawling on the floor a couple weeks later. The front desk said that the free wireless can only be used by your own laptop in the lobby. It took half an hour to load one site, and one of the sites never loaded. Most of the stay the internet was slower than molasses. We're talking way slower than dial up. Only on one day was it working properly.

Around 1 am one night, we smelled fumes so harsh that we, along with others in the building in rooms facing the courtyard, were coughing uncontrollably. We had to leave the hotel for half an hour til the fumes cleared. We called and went to the front desk, who later told us that the restaurant next door had some guys (who were wearing gas masks) spray mosquito spray in the courtyard. On another night, the same restaurant blasted music til 12:30 am, which is the time the front desk told us that they were allowed to blast music til.

At checkout, the front desk attempted to charge an additional night and charge for using the phone in the room when I had been told that using the phone was free as long as I called the local access number on my phone card. Needless to say, they failed.

The hotel is located near the Spagna subway station. It's located in a safe and clean but touristy neighborhood. My best friend recommends the nearest cafe for the best cappuccinos and double espressos in the neighborhood- the guy in the red vest serves sandwiches, drinks, and pastries at the counter. Beware of the closest bar/pizzeria that's open late- the cashier claimed my bill (which I bought from the bank here in the states) was counterfeit and tried to take it. Like that's gonna work on a New Yorker. Also, the bartender, who took awhile searching for a certain beer for the Italian customer before us, tried to just give my best friend the first beer he found instead of what he asked for.

I'll definitely never stay at this filthy hotel again. I have no idea why it's recommended by anyone. A third world youth hostel was cleaner than this.

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.