The Torre Rossa has a nice restaurant and outside seating area. It's rooms are in need of renovation. They are average sized for Italian standards and of average quality. Compared to an average US hotel, it is below average. The rooms could use some updating. I found the pictures on the website of the rooms to be a bit deceiving. They don't look nearly as nice in person. The bathrooms are clean, though most have a rather small stall shower. The rooms are clean enough, though not spotless. Some buildings do not have elevators. The walls are thin and you can hear everything from the next rooms over, as the vents are connected and the doors are very noisy when they close. The staff is very friendly.

The location is not convenient to tourist locations, though a bus stop in front of the hotel will take you to downtown Rome or the Vatican in under 30 minutes. Wifi is available though it is not cheap.

It is out of the way from the city attractions. Therefore you have to rely on cabs or pick-up services when you visit the attractions. And, there are no food or other facilities outside the hotel.

However, it has a lot of space within the premises that is great for families with kids.

Rome was our last stop on a 4 city tour of Italy, having already been to Milan, Venice and Florence. All of the hotels we had stayed in throughout the tour had just been basic 3 star, city centre hotels, and all had met or exceeded our expectations. We had also been very careful to check the reviews for each hotel on TripAdvisor to make sure that other travellers had been happy

with them. However, it seems that in a rush to book the final hotel of our trip, the Torre Rossa Park in Roma, we forgot to check the reviews on TripAdvisor and booked it from the hotel's website.

Firstly, the location of the hotel is described as "close to the Vatican and is easy to reach" and "a few minutes from the Vatican City, St. Peter's Basilica and Rome city centre". This could not be further from the truth. Upon arriving at the central station in Rome, we took the subway to the station nearest to the hotel. We exited Cornelia station and were surrounded by homeless people. It was immediately apparent that this was a run down area. We then spent 20 minutes trying to find the right bus stop. We caught the bus and got off at the right stop. We were on a very busy road with pavement only on one side. As we walked down the road towards the hotel, the pavement ended and we had to cross the road to the other side - not easy when you are dragging 2 suitcases and 2 bags along and the hasty Rome driving are speeding along at 70mph! The hotel is about a 200 metre walk down this road, and you have to cross back to the original side once the pavement on that side resumes!

The reception staff were very nice and we were dealt with promptly and told to head out the side door and across the courtyard. The reception and bar areas are also nicely decorated. As we headed across the courtyard, we thought things started to look promising, as we walked past the large old villa that was pictured on the website. However, then we turned the corner and arrived at the buildings where the rooms actually are. I can only compare them to a motel - cheap looking, 3 floor buildings with very narrow hallways and dingy lighting. We entered the room and were shocked at how small it was, literally with just enough room to put our 2 suitcases down besides the double bed. The walls were also covered in black scuffs (see pictures), which looked to be where people had tried to get their suitcase around the bed and failed! The TV was extremely old, as was the air con. On the plus side, and in general the room just felt dark and dingy, although not dirty. On the plus side, the bathroom was surprisingly bright and modern!

Overall, this was one of the worst hotels I have ever stayed in. The location is a 25 minute bus ride from the Vatican and then a 5 minute suitcase-drag up an extremely busy main road with narrow one-sided pavements - certainly not close to the city centre. The room was very aged, although on the positive sides the bathroom was nice, and the staff were friendly. Certainly not worth the £85 per night that we paid, and we were thankful that we were only staying there 2 nights!

It is hard to say anything definitely good or bad about this hotel. On the negative side, we waited a lot for the check-in and there is quite a walk between the front desk and the hotel rooms, situated in several building at the back of a large property. The hotel is quite remote, in the suburbs, and the surroundings do not offer much. You depend on the bus (the stop is in front of the hotel) and it is a long trip to the centre of Rome. On the positive side, they offered free parking (compared with the prices for parking charged by other hotels in Italy, the free parking it's a God's bless), the breakfast was nice and you can also enjoy a large variety of drinks on the terrace of the bar.