The place was filthy. The sheets hadn't been changed after the previous tenant. There were hairs in the bed. The glass in the bathroom had toothpaste in it. The desk clerk, just outside my door, spent all night on the phone with her boyfriend. Lucky me, I now know as much about her life as he does. One night (out of three) was enough for me so I checked out early, agreeing to pay half of what I would have owed them for the three nights, and THEY BILLED MY CREDIT CARD FOR THE REMAINING TWO NIGHTS!

What a fantastic location for this small, basic but immaculately clean and friendly hotel.

Fortunately I read reviews on trip advisor before travelling to Rome and realised that the hotel may be difficult to find as there is only a sign on the pillar outside the door, so we found the building easily. There are only a few rooms situated on the second floor of a large old building. It is literally a few minutes walk from the main train and coach station, - ten minutes walk to trevi, spanish steps, Plaza Venizia, Forum etc Walking distance of everything.

The hotel staff were really friendly and provided us with a map and explained how to reach every attraction either by foot or which bus to catch. My daughter is very messy but her room was cleaned, all her clothes picked up, folded very neatly and put in the wardrobe! Breakfast was basic - a pastry, packet toast , tea or coffee and orange juice but there is a Spar a couple of doors away for snacks and a McDonalds two door up which does great coffee.

For a bargain break in Rome Magnifico Hotel offers great value for money.

I stayed in a twin room the room was a bit small, but hey I was just there to sleep and take a shower. It was spotless! I had a small fridge in my room so it was great to get some things from a supermarket a few blocks away and stick it in there for when I was thirsty. The room is modern and you can tell it has just been redecorated.

Bad part of it:
1. the people at the reception spend most of there time on the phone. (with personal calls) When you need something you have to "interrupt them". At night the guy hides in a room and just talks and talks and talks. if your room is close to the resception desk be prepared to hear phone ring all night long. Either it be the hotels phone, cell phone, or the door bell.

2. They have a computer that you can use (its also the hotels computer) When I was on it at night because I couldnt sleep the guy at reception asked me if I would take long because he needed to use it.. I gave it to him right away, and when I turned back to see what he was doing he was chatting. I thought it was rude to take a guest off the computer so he could chat .

3. Breakfast was not the best. It kind of seemed you just had to eat whatever they put on your table. Which was prepacked toast, microwaved heated milk and something kind of crossant.

4. THIS REALLY MADE ME MAD!! The cleaning lady decided to move arround our stuff in the room because it was in her way! When we got to our room our suitcases weren't were we left them. She put them under our beds. She took my moms traveling bag and decided that the closet was a better place to put it. It took me a while to find my slippers.

We spent 7 nights here on our honeymoon in October 2005.

Positives:
Location is OK. 20 mins walking distance to Trevi fountain. But also 5 mins to metro. On Via Nazionale, so quite busy but interesting with shops and restaurants

Negatives:

- One of the smallest hotels Ive ever been in. For 120 Euro a room , Im sure there are better out there. Were given a double room where you basically couldnt get out sideways from the bed, the room was so small. So depressing as we had been planning this for more than half a year - it was our honeymoon. The pictures on the internet suggest a palace - it is in an old palace, but the hotel occupies half a floor - in total probably was occupied by just one person before it became a hotel. Website and internet is misleading - suggests a grand hotel facade and lots of space.

- I had specifically asked for the best room they could give us when booking. We were moved to their best room only after 3 nights!

- Breakfast is really very very poor. Great coffee, but thats it. I lived in Italy for a while some years ago so I know what Italian breakfasts are like. What we got was the absolute minimum to qualify even as an Italian breakfast. Vaccum packed "toast" slices, and jam!! We ended up going to the local Spar to top up which wasted precious 45 minutes of our day every day.

- Slackers at the reception. I don't use that in a derogatory way, but just to emphasise that these were not trained hotel staff, just part time workers or students earning a little money to "babysit" the place, clean up, and let you in at night.

All in all, clean enough and good location. But if you are coming to rome for a special occasion, don't even think about Magnifico.