My husband and I stayed at this hotel for one night last week. We were travelling from Romania to Ireland via Rome and missed our first connecting flight, so we had to find somewhere to stay overnight in Rome. So we purely needed a place to sleep for that one night, we weren't looking for anything too fancy and couldn't have afforded it anyway.

We booked a room at the Palacavicchi through the hotel reservations desk at Ciampino airport. We just told the clerk that we wanted to stay somewhere close by, that was cheap, secure and reasonably clean. She recommended the Palacavicchi, so we ended up there.

It was about two minutes away from the airport and the taxi driver knew it by name, so we didn't have to worry about giving directions.

The reception staff were polite and after checking in, we went to our room. It was very basic, as we'd expected it to be, but was clean and comfortable enough. The bathroom was ok, pretty clean apart from the shower which wasn't that nice - discoloured and old looking, also smelled a bit mouldy. But it wasn't dirty as such, everything had obviously been recently cleaned, just needed refitting perhaps.

We had dinner in the restaurant downstairs. The restaurant was much better than we were expecting it to be. We only ate there because it was late at night and we were too tired to go anywhere else. But we were surprised by how elegant and comfortable it was, we'd been expecting it to be somewhat dingy and depressing on account of it's being in a cheap airport hotel. But no, it was actually very relaxed and pleasant and it felt more like a being in a real restaurant than a hotel dining room. The waiters were helpful and friendly and there was a lot of choice on the menu. Prices very reasonable and the food was good. The house wine was lovely, which was a nice suprise too.

Breakfast in the restaurant next morning was continental buffet. Nothing very special at all but the croissants were nice enough. We were in a hurry anyway and only wanted to grab a coffee and something to eat quickly before catching our plane home, so it was more than adequate for us.

Anyway, I'd be happy to stay there again if I was in Rome for one night and just needed a place to sleep. It's basic but cheap, clean and secure and it's efficiently run. Some reviews have complained about the staff being rude but I really didn't find that at all - they weren't effusive but they were perfectly polite and helpful, or perhaps my husband and I were just lucky!

But I wouldn't choose the Palacavicchi as somewhere to stay for a real holiday or city break, it's just too basic, even if you're not looking for somewhere luxurious and romantic. But for business travel or for emergencies, you could do a lot worse.

After looking at many sites recommending hotels in / or near Rome Ciampino airport we decided to go for this hotel due to our early morning flight. We are happy to say that our room was clean, comfortable and air conditioned ! - which in a 35 degree heat was most welcome. Although it could be noisy (all floors are tiled and corridors long) it did not pose a problem. The restaurant was adequate and given what we had read - we were prepared for. We can't complain about the service or accommodation, - given that we paid £38 for 3 people (2 adults and a child in a family room). We would have no hesitation in staying here again if it was an early / late flight and we needed some where to put our heads down. Staff were pleasant enough, although we felt like 'just another tourist' . The hotel is not the easiest to find (signs were overgrown) but look for the Alto Q restaurant - opposite the garage. Getting to the airport was fine and hire car bays easy to locate. It would never, ever be in our world leading hotels - but we have stayed in significantly worse !

we were to arrive at Ciampino at midnight so we booked into the Palavicchi as we did not wish to be at Rome Termini in the middle of the night.

I have no real complaints of the Palacavicchi but the word "adequate" keeps coming to mind.

We paid 99 euro for a room for 3 adults - not so bad.

It was clean and comfortable.

Breakfast was ok.

I thought it was cheeky that we were charged 10 euro for the shuttle bus to the airport - I expected it to be complementary and we had no option.

I would stay here again if I had an early flight from Ciampino, but not really by choice.

We (family of 4 inc child in wheelchair) booked Palacavicchi because of its proximity to the airport. I read some of the reviews so had an idea what to expect but have to say we were pleasantly surprised. Room was clean and spacious - and had airconditioning, and we all found the beds very comfy. Had read that it has a half decent restaurant and that proved to be the case. It is quite difficult to find and not helped by the fact that what signage there is does not even mention Palacavicchi - it's actually a rather tacky sign for the Altro something restuarant! Luckily I had printed off detailed (and very accurate) directions from a website I'm afraid I have now forgotten - but if you are going there defintely look for a detailed description of how to find it!
It did seem that there was virtually no thickness to the walls of the rooms and I think we were lucky in that it was not noisy the night we were there. Also I think we were lucky that our room was not too far from reception/restaurant.
In all a quite OK stay - they just need to "freshen up" the breakfast a bit and get some decent coffee!!