My husband and I stayed here in September 2008. I really wasn't expecting too much after reading the other reviews on tripadvisor. When we arrived at the front door I was as tad concerned (as i'm a travel egent and use to staying in very decent hotels), so I was already thinking about looking for an alternative hotel to stay at. What a pleasant suprise when we got inside. The staff is very friendly and the rooms are very very clean. The bathroom is quite new - a bit small, but serve the purpose. The breakfast in the morning was another pleasant suprise. Yes, traditional European continental breakfast, but there were bioled eggs, juices, cheeses, biscuits, cakes, toast tea, coffee...alot to fill up on. The hotel is in the prefect location....the area really isn't that bad...we walked EVERYWHERE - even at night . There's a supermarket accross the road and the oldest gelatti shop is a 2 minute walk down the street. Awesome, would recommend this. The underground station is a short 10 minute walk (6 minutes when you speed it up a bit !) from the hotel. I really have nothing bad to say. THis hotel really is a little gem in Rome. The price is really good considering what you get. I would definitely not hestiate to stay there again if ever I travel to Rome again.

We were on a budget and chose the Principe because it was affordable for Rome. You get what you pay for. The breakfast was easily the worst of the 4 hotels we were at in Italy. The entry was unique, with a fair amount of stairs, no lift and buzzing from outside to be let in. There was however a fantastic gelato store and a grocer across the street which were nice. Would I stay there again? Probably not.

If you're a budget traveller with no great expectations about the place you stay in, then I'm sure this hotel would suffice. It's certainly close enough to Termini and a metro station and, although basic, it's clean enough. However, we were very disappointed - and it still cost E115 per night. But breakfast. Really, there's no excuse for packet toast, Nescafe coffee, and what can only be described as dilute juice (not fresh), and hard rolls. God, you don't expect much, but in Italy some good coffee and a couple of croissants would be easy and welcome. Hunt online further and you will find much more decent places that are still close to Termini (if this is what you're after) but in a much, much nicer neighbourhood. This hotel's neighbourhood, while OK if you're a city dweller and used to very urban areas, could be unsettling, but frankly it's not that - it's just not the kind of locale you want to be in, and could be in, when you're holidaying in Rome. I thought we were being clever saving a few bucks on our last two nights, but having had two nights in Rome on the way over, we didn't pay that much more and had a fabulous stay in the Hotel Raffaello - a real gem that felt like a 'proper' hotel (this place is really a B&B/pensione - close to Termini, too, but also within a much, much nicer part of the city. In retrospect, very, very surprised at the reviews given here and the hotel's rating on this site. It reminds me not to take everything at face value on Trip Advisor in future and that while it's great to read people's opinions, you don't know know the people behind the opinions.

we wanted a fairly cheap couple of days and this hotel was perfect - its clean, well placed and the family who run it speak reasonable english and are welcoming and helpful. we arrived late friday evening - took the bus from the airport and then a taxi from the main termini which was a sensible move - would have been impossible to find! hotel is in a safe area and we found it really easy to walk out in the evening and find very reasonable street bars and restaurants to eat in. it was about 20 mins from the coloseum but as the weather was so hot we found the open top bus the best way to get around and the metro is excellent.