I stayed in a triple room for four nights back in December 2007 with my sister and brother-in-law, and we all had a very pleasant experience at this hotel. This is a 2-star budget hotel, but it's an excellent value.

CONS: (1) The hotel is located on a busy street, but it is dark and very urban, not neighborhood-y at all. Despite that, I felt safe walking up to the hotel at any time of day - it was no different than a block in New York City, where I live. (2) No pretty view from the rooms: It's just the busy and gray neighborhood below. (3) No irons in rooms, but there is a common ironing room. I used it and it was fine, but of course it's convenient to have an iron in your room.

PROS: (1) Transportation was a breeze. The hotel is just 2 blocks away from the Metro, and Bus 105 stops directly in front of the hotel. We frequently took the bus to the Termini station, and back again since the Metro doesn't take you everywhere. In general, we found getting around Rome to be very easy. We knew we could either take the Metro or take any bus in the city back to the Termini, and then at the Termini, transfer to bus 105 to go straight to the hotel. (3) The staff is excellent: they are polite and nice, they speak English, and they gave us detailed bus and metro directions. They even have their own maps and any time we wanted directions, they took out a map and went over the directions with us. They also gave us restaurant recommendations and made reservations or called places to make sure they were open since we were traveling right after Christmas. I also had a cold during our stay, and they provided us with hot tea in carafes that stayed hot through the night, several times, for free. (4) For a budget breakfast, we thought the hotel's was more than adequate. We had hard-boiled eggs, salumi, breads, cereals, coffee, juice, and fruit. It was certainly better tasting and had better variety than a Holiday Inn Express continental breakfast. (5) There's a supermarket across the street, and if you choose this hotel, you probably are interested in saving some money by getting a few snacks or drinks from the market. (6) The rooms are clean - and that's probably one of the most important things to consider when staying at a budget hotel. (7) The room was quiet. Even though our room was on a corner and there were busy streets below, the room was quiet and we had no problems with noise or getting a good night's rest. (8) Our triple room was spacious, and it even had a balcony. I've posted a few pix of the room: forgive the unmade beds- but you'll see the size of the room.

Bottom line: if you are looking for value, then this is a good place to stay. It's not the prettiest place and it doesn't have a lot of ambiance, but it's definitely clean and nice enough.

Not a nice part of town! We spent the beggining of our vacation in Venice, Florence, and Greve in Chianti and stayed in some great places with amazing scenery. So needless to say I was very disappointed upon arriving at our hotel. The streets smelled like urine and there were many homeless on the streets. The building was old and shared space with other residents. My opinion is that you should stay in the centro storico or near the Vatican.

On a nice note, the owners are fabulous! They were very nice and hospitable. I did feel safe once in my room and it was very clean. Breakfast was sufficient as well. The hotel was close to the Metro which made it easy to get around during the daytime. We arrived at the Vatican in minutes for the price of 2 Euro. On foot however, it is quite far from the sights. We were able to walk it, but with VERY tired feet, and youth on our side. I didn't feel safe walking around the hotel at night. This hotel would be adequate if you don't mind the surroundings.

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.