For the money this hotel is great. Outside the main city but handy for Ciampino Airport. The fantastic public transport system made it easy to go into the city each day. I was unlucky enough to have my purse stolen whilst on a bus in the city (I thought I had been careful - still haven't worked out how they got it!), and the staff at reception could not have been more helpful - they found the numbers I needed to make the phonecalls to stop my cards etc. I was on their desk phone for ages!
The shuttle service does exist contrary to other reviews, we used it on Sunday when the 507 bus had a limited service, but to be honest when the bus stops outside the hotel why would you need a shuttle service as well? Tckets on this bus can be used on the Metro too, so there is no extra expense incurred using the service bus.
The room is basic, but it does have a minibar with reasonable prices, which for us doubled as a fridge to keep some bits of food in. A supermarket is attached to the hotel so it's easy to get anything you need.
Towels were brillliantly white and thick... bathroom was clean... breakfast was basic. but adequate... we would definitely go back to Rome and this hotel.

Where do I start?? We went to Rome for 3 nights and didn't realise that this hotel was so far from the city centre. We wasted so much time traveling to and from the hotel that we wasted so much time. The hotel itself is ok, it's very basic but clean. I found the bed extremely uncomfortable and the walls were paper thin so you could hear your neighbours TV blaring at 2 am. Not good. The breakfast very basic too but hotel staff friendly and helpful. You have to get a bus to the metro station but you could be waiting up to half an hour to jump on the bus then the Metro can take 30 -45 minutes. When you have so little time to see everything it would be more convenient to stay central. We came home exhausted. Saying that, Rome itself was amazing but if I was going back, I would definately stay closer to city. Once you leave in the morning you don't return until night due to the fact that the hotel is so far out. You can't just pop back to freshen up or take a nap. I found taking the Metro at night quite scary. It's crowded and I had heard so many stories about pickpockets, that I became paranoid!! I was away with my elderly mother and the whole experience just wasn't as enjoyable for her as it should have been. The hotel has no facilities whatsoever, so even if you fancied an evening in, there's nothing to do. Very disappointing but a big thumbs up to Rome itself.

If you are looking for a budget hotel, it's a safe choice. Clean and nice rooms with balconies, and nice service.

The only drawback is that the closest metro station in a bus ride away, meaning that it can take 30-45 minutes to get into the city.

Taxi from the airport can be expensive, and if you're on a budget vacation, would be a total waste of money. Instead, take the train to termini (the central train station) and from there, the metro to Anagnina. (the last station on the line a (red)) from there you will have to take a 2 minute bus ride, you should probably call the hotel for directions.

The good thing about public transportation in rome is that you can get a 3 day pass for the metro and all busses for quite cheap.

Basically, I stayed in the hotel, but spent very few hours there every night, but it was a great base for an extraordinary vacation in Rome

The first thing to consider about staying at the Arcadia is whether you really need to be there at all. The hotel is convenient only for the enormous Ericsson factory and the large ploughed field that are immediately adjacent. It's a very long way from anywhere else, along one of those streets that lack footpaths [sidewalks] for much of its length. In particular, it's quite unsuitable for those making early morning flight connections from Ciampino airport. Though one can take the 507 'bus to Anagnina station and connect to the AT.RA.L. shuttle to the airport, the latter doesn't start running until 06:00, too late for the first departures. The only alternative is a taxi that will set you back about Eur. 30: and for that money you could go from the airport practically all the way to the Aurelian Walls and stay in a hotel much closer to the centre of Rome.

(It is--theoretically--possible to walk from the hotel to the airport, but I emphatically do *not* recommend it for the casual visitor. The route is complicated, requiring an intimate knowledge of the geography of the southeastern district; about half its distance is along deserted, unilluminated and unpaved country lanes; there are two busy divided highways to be traversed somehow; and if you're doing it in the hours of darkness, as you probably will be (otherwise you'd be on the 'bus), you'll need either moonlight or your own flashlight to find your way. I've done it twice--there and back--and though I'm a fast walker and was unencumbered by much baggage, it took me a hair under two hours each time.)

So far as the hotel itself is concerned, I'm a little surprised that it rated three stars from the tourist board: the inspector must have been in a generous mood that day. It's not the worst place in the world, but it does have a tired 1970s appearance throughout. I found the management polite and helpful, although--as always--speaking Italian helps. (There were quite a few hand-written signs in English tacked up at various points, though, so somebody there clearly has some knowledge of foreign languages.) The room in which I stayed was furnished sparsely, and painted in a depressing shade of green. The TV had one viewable channel--RAI Tre--with all the others being so static-filled as to defy watching. Most of the surprises, though, came in the bathroom. The handles of fittings had an unhappy habit of coming off in one's hand, although in fairness it proved pretty easy to put them back on again. There was no shower curtain, though there were mysterious holes on the inside of the bathroom door and the tile wall near the floor that could only have been caused by someone putting his fist and boot through them respectively. The toilet had not been flushed by the previous inhabitant of the room, nor by the housekeeping staff: otherwise the place was clean enough. I left too early for breakfast, so can say nothing about that except that the dining room is capacious and the hours are between 07:00 and 10:00.

Bottom line: the Arcadia is the cure to no known disease. If you've already booked and prepaid a couple of nights here, I shouldn't despair. It's certainly not a bug ranch: if sleeping and nothing else is all you have in mind you'll find it quite adequate for that purpose. But I can't imagine why anyone would seek it out, either. Unless you're getting it at a jaw-droppingly generous rate (i.e., free, as near as dammit), its many inconveniences make it not worth the effort of getting there and staying there.