I found out about staying in convents in Rome from a friend, and the Albergo Giusti was able to fit me in at the last minute with only a few days pre-booking required in the high season in Rome. For 50 E a night, I have my own room with two beds, TV, air conditioning, SPOTLESSLY CLEAN, I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH, plenty of towels, a balcony, and complete and total quiet. The rooms are definitely spartan--like a college dorm more than a hotel--but anyone who has stayed at pensions in this part of Europe knows that you would have to quadruple that price to get anything much nicer, and you're certainly not going to find anything cleaner anywhere. There is also plenty of room to spread out, much more than in most rooms they put single travelers in, to say nothing of the balcony, which doesn't overlook anything fancy but it's a balcony! Also, the air conditioners are all new, which means they are quiet and really work. (When I couldn't figure out how to do the remote, one of the Sisters came up and showed me herself.) In brutally hot Rome, this is worth the entire price. The staff at the desk was always nice and helpful too--I was sick for a few days and stayed in the room a lot, and no one bugged me about it.
Some earlier reviews say the curfew is 10:30; it's now 12, fyi., and you can call if you need to come later.
FYI: Breakfast is certainly not fancy: prepackaged little pastry, nutella, butter, orange juice, coffee, hot milk, tea--sometimes fruit. But what do you want; it's a convent! There are a ton of bars two steps away if you want a macchiato and brioche in the morning for 2 E. As of 2007, the area is still filled with very reasonably priced restaurants which are good--nothing fancy, but dinner for 10 E a person with wine, no problem, and places to eat lunch or just get a panini. Still a Mercato across the street which is a good one.
A note about the neighborhood: I loved that it was within walking distance of the Coluseum and a nice park two blocks away (also with a little cafe). You can get to all the tourist sites by foot (most) or by Metro or bus (Vatican, e.g.) and it's just a few blocks from the central stazione. But just so you know: it's not a fancy neighborhood. If you're picturing a completely picturesque block of cafes and apartments, that's not it exactly, although it's certainly surrounded by streets like that close by. The street the convent is on looks a little sketchy, and when I first walked up I was disheartened by the trash on the street.
However, it's NOT a sketchy neighborhood. It's filled with cheap internet cafes and phone centers (about one euro fifty an hour, which for anyone who has been paying typical Italy prices is VERY good) and I cannot tell you how nice the people are, both at the convent and in the neighborhood. It's very nice to be able to get away from the touristy stuff and be in a real place, especially if you're sick of the crowds on the street. If you sit in a bar, you'll have a mixture of Romans and other visitors--my first night, an Eritrean brother and sister bought me beers and I talked to the owner of the cafe for hours. In the tourist areas, I actually found that everyone was quite rude and impatient with all visitors, including me. I guess this is understandable, but it's nice to be somewhere where someone doesn't practically throw their food at you or not say hello when you walk into the store. I just did my laundry here, and the owner personally helped me, laughing (nicely) at how I couldn't figure out the machines. Big difference. Also, I never felt unsafe walking around at night, and I'm a young single woman who is used to big cities.
Bottom line--if you want something chi-chi in the center of the city, this is certainly not for you. But if you're traveling on a budget and want to stay in a nice, REAL neighborhood near to everything and you can deal with the fact that your exact block is not charming but the one two streets away is, stay here.
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