Between the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, the location was great. The hotel was very clean, freshly painted and carpeted, with nice furnishings. It was quiet and had air conditioning. The room was only about 10X12 feet, a challenge to put your luggage down and still move around, but the bathroom was nicely done in marble and adequately sized. If you can get used to the small space (we did, as we're not in the room much), the hotel is a great value.
The "view" from the one small window was ugly, but the small breakfast room was pleasant and the buffet good. The staff is polite, but not equipped to give much sightseeing info or assistance like some hotels do. They can help you find things listed in your guidebook.

My son and I just came back from 5 night stay at La Fenice. We had the best time! The staff was great, especially the girl in the breakfast room, and the white haired gentleman on the graveyard shift at the desk. La Fenice is a great value for it's location. It is like others have said, so close to everything. And , if it's not close, the bus is. We never did use the metro but it is just 5 min walk as is a main taxi stand area. The only complaint I have is that the beds were a little hard. But, even with that, I would stay there again.

My husband and I stayed here for two nights, mid-week, at the beginning of December. We arrived around 1pm and were greeted by the friendly receptionist. He told us that our room was ready and we would be in one of the annex rooms that is on a different street than the main hotel. I thought that was a little strange, but he assured us that the room was newly renovated and we'd like it. He had the housekeeper take us over there (it was just around the corner). The room was very nice - it had one very small window and two skylights, but there was a small balcony that would be nice in warmer months. Everything was new and very clean, so I was happy about that. Our only problem (which we realized the first morning) was that the hot water wasn't working. We let the receptionist know while on our way to breakfast and it was fixed within about 1 1/2 hours. Speaking of breakfast, it was ok - just a normal European breakfast buffet with rolls, cheese, meat, cereal, fruit. The hot chocolate was excellent (the housekeeper makes your hot beverage of choice). There was one thing though that completely grossed me out, but I didn't notice it until after we'd finished breakfast on our last morning - when cleaning up vacated tables, the housekeeper put any food that people had taken but not eaten and put it back on the buffet! Who knows if the people had dropped the food, sneezed on it, etc. Other than that, everything was fine and I would definitely stay there if I were to go back to Rome. The location was excellent - within easy walking distance of a lot of major sites, yet also really close to the Metro station which was nice for visiting places such as the Vatican and also for getting to/from the airport. It felt like a safe area too. Also, I highly recommend the restaurant (wine bar actually, but we just had water and Coke - the wine list looked great though) Vineria Il Chianti which is about 5 minutes away and pretty much right next to the Trevi Fountain (I was worried since it is in such a touristy area, but it was packed and the homemade pasta was so good - our best restaurant of the trip by far). Anyway, La Fenice was a nice, friendly hotel. I wish I had seen a room in the actual hotel so I could comment about that, but the annex rooms are good at least. Rome is a great city too!

My wife and I stayed a weekend in Rome at the beginning of Dec 2008. We read many reviews here in TripAdvisor, and we couldn't decide. Eventually we set our mind on La Fenice. It turned out to be a great success.
The rooms were very nice and it seemed that renovation has been done not so long ago. The water was hot, the service and courtesy of the staff was great. There were about 4 different receptionists and all were helpful and friendly.
Breakfast at the roof balcony was good as well. Excellent cappuccino...
Last but not least - LOCATION!
This hotel is pretty quiet and very central. Few blocks from the Trevi fountain and the Spanish steps.
We'll certainly come back again.