Just returned on May 31, 2006. Traveled with a group of 20 and reserved 10 rooms. We all agree that the hotel was above average. Many rooms having a balcony. Breakfast was plentiful, and served on the roof resturant starting at 0730 hrs. It is air conditioned with an elevator. Four floors. The staff were very friendly and spoke english. In fact during one evening one of the hotel clerks went out with four of our young adult children. The hotel is located outside of center Rome. You will have to be an intrepid adventurer to get around. Not a bad thing if you want to be a traveier and not a tourist. What better way to get an idea of the culture than to stay where the locals live and eat. Many of the staff at the local resturants near the hotel had a difficult time understanding us. I would suggest that if this concerns you, that you eat in center Rome where english is spoken almost everywhere. There are a few ways to get into the center and main train station, Termini. Besides the rail, this is the local transportaion hub. The Metro lines converge here as well as the departure point for local buses. There are cabs as well as tourist sightseeing buses. There is a bus stop two small blocks from the hotel. One will take you directly (last stop) to the Vatician. Another bus will take you to the Mancini bus depot, for a bus or tram transfer. Or if you so incline you can walk across the bridge also two blocks from the hotel, and continue four blocks to Mancini bus depot. Direct bus to Termini. Another way, which is quicker, is to go to Mancini and catch the number 2 tram to the last stop and catch the Metro to all points. Just some advice. The bridge is the local hang out for the "young" crowd during the evenings. It is packed from one end to the other. Not a safety issue at all. My young adult kids and friends that came along with us, made some local friends and hung out there. All are polite, and welcomed the Americans. My point is that while we did not so much mind the walk across the bridge to Manicini in the morning as we started out our many sightseeing adventures, the evening was very tiredsome. We needed to take the bus from Manicini to the hotel. Another advice. Purchase the Metro pass. With so many transfers from bus to Metro to Tram during the week we were there, it was a great investment. Saved a lot of time and money. During our last day we, as a group, got on a bus, and there were three inspectors checking all passes. Also be aware to expect rudness from the general public while on the public transportation system. It was not because we were tourists, they did not know, but because they were always in a rush to get in and grab a seat. A lot of pushing.

stayed in the rfarnesia hotel for 2 nights 16th to 18th May, hotel was clean. You have to get a bus from the hotel into st.peter's squaer, 5 mins walk to bus stop and 10 mins bus ride. The only downside on hotel there is no tea/coffee making facilities in room and hotel would not gives us a cup of tea when we arrived at 10pm at night, had to go out to find a coffee shop, which we could not find, there is a wee market at the end of the street where we did buy a few bits and pieces.

I had a very unique experience in Rome since it thunderstormed the day we arrived and we were absolutely soaked by the time we got to the hotel. I found it very difficult to find, but it was constantly raining on us. If you want my opinion, take the subway to the Ottaviano stop, take the bus 32 NORTH to Ponte Milvio. People never heard of the hotel or the surrounding areas. Don't be scared to ride the bus for over 15 mins...just ask locals where Ponte Milvio is and make sure they know you DO NOT want to go to the hostel, where 2 locals ended up taking us. It is on the same road and most tourists on that bus apparently look for the hostel. The hotel itself is nice, very fair for the price. It is quite away from city center though. It was our first time traveling to Rome and in retrospect, i'm not sure we'd stay here again because it was so far awawy.

It is about 15-20 min bus ride (where the stop is about an 8 min walk from the hotel) on #32 to the Ottaviano stop. From there, Rome is very accesible. But it is impossible to go back to your hotel mid-day b/c of the amount of travel required to go back and forth. We were young travelers (22 and 25) and we spent all day touring Rome so it wasn't too big of a deal for us. The hotel is clean, nice, quiet, and the rooms were comfortable. Compared to the other hotels we stayed at during our trip this was one of the better hotels.

Breakfast is good. It had an assortment of drinks (i.e. pineapple, orange, and grapefruit juice) coffee, milk and water. They had yogurt available along with biscuits, breads, and even cereal. But the best part were the cold cuts and cheese that filled us up until lunch. The breakfast area was nice and clean as well.

One of the people who reviewed the hotel is right. Nobody checks for bus or public transportation passes. But I would get one for peace of mind b/c if you're caught there is a on-the-spot fine and an additional fine. Playing dumb won't work i've heard. When I was in Rome they decided to do work on the subway at night and closed the subway at 930pm instead of 1130pm. This was a huge problem b/c we had dinner near the Pantheon one night and had no way back home. So check for any closures b/c locals told me this was going to be occuring for at least a year. It is worth looking into so you're not stuck lost with no way home except for a very expensive cab ride to a very far hotel.

Rome is wonderful. I recommend having the tour of the Vatican as I learned a great deal from the tour. It is costly, we paid 45 euros for entrance into the Vatican and the tour along with St. Peter Cathedral, but well worth it. Take a walk around St. Peter square at night. It was a pleasant walk and nice to just relax in the square the has so much history.

Rome is amazing and I wish you the best. Safe travels...

We visited the Farnesia Hotel and had a wonderful short break to Rome. The hotel was very comfortable, clean and warm. The hotel staff were helpful and friendly. There was a good continental breakfast available in the roof top restaurant. We used the limousine service to and from the airport. The cost was 70 euros as there were four of us travelling. This seemed a little expensive but the driver was courteous and punctual. It certainly saved a lot of hassle. We used the tram and buses to get around the City. The No 2 tram was ideal to take you into the City to the Plazza del Popola. We also used the No 32 bus to the Vatican and the 271 to the Colesseum. We paid 11 euros each for the bus/tram/metro ticket for 3 days. This was excellent value. We pre-booked a guide to take us around the Vatican City and this was a really worthwhile experience. The hotel is about 20 minutes out of Rome City Centre. We ate at a restaurant recommended by the hotel and had two excellent meals served by delightful people. The break involved lots of walking and was a very pleasant stay all round.