Relais Le Clarisse was a fabulous, emaculately clean, cozy, welcoming, friendly place to stay! I traveled with 8 other women for a cooking class in Tuscany, and we stayed at the Relais for our first two nights in Rome. I could not have asked for a better place! The staff could not have been more helpful, especially Maurizio, who took such good care of us. He picked us up from the airport, and took us back to the airport at the end of our two weeks, even though we did not stay at the Relais upon our return to Rome for our last night (BIG mistake!). Maurizio even picked us up in the middle of the city one day when our tour had ended and due to complications, we were going to have to take a cab back. He came to our rescue instead. You could not meet a more caring, honest, kind soul than Maurizio! I would highly recommend staying at the Clarisse! Many of the women in our group, upon returning to Rome for our flights home, changed their previous plans and booked a room there for the last night. I wish we had been able to do the same. As for the location, it was perfect as far as we were concerned. It was authentic, and did not have the hordes of tourists blocking the streets. It was an easy walk across the river, to many popular attractions. Rome is so enormous that no matter where you stay, you will not be close to everything! Relais La Clarisse was the place for us! I highly recommend it!

It was a little hard to find- a bit of a half street and it seems we were the first guests mad enough to drive in. Check in by a dapper older gent was indifferent. In a previous life he may have stapped passports at the airport. Although we advised the hotel we were driving and required parking he just shrugged. In Italy it is very difficult to park. No matter the meters(when you get a spot) are1 E an hour 8am-3am. Or 19E a day. Olive suite was amazing although the previous guest left his clothes in the closet and the minisafe was locked. He came back later that day but the minisafe which is not bolted down was still locked. We took our $$ and passports with us. Room was very large with a huge bathroom. Great breakfast and nice courtyard to sit and sip wine. We loved the neighborhood, very real with great places to eat. You might call it seedy but you might call Greenwich Village in NY seedy. We loved it. 15 minute walk and you're heading for all the sights. Vatican is a hike because it's on the other side of the hill. My map was flat but Columbus had similiar issues. This hotel is a tough call but if you are not driving and don't encounter the same gent as we did then add a star, you'll be glad you did

We were VERY happy with this intimate hotel. The staff were friendly and helpful. Our room (La Vita) was huge and there was a wonderful jaccuzzi in the bathroom. While it was hard to access the internet in our room, doing so in the courtyard was a lovely experience. We loved the neighborhood (Trastavere) for all its energy and restaurants. We had booked for 3 nights, then were going to Florence for 3 nights, returning back to Le Clarisse for our last night. At checkout after the first leg we were told they'd overbooked for our last night but they'd booked us into another hotel in the neighborhood for that one night. I was upset, to put it mildly. Upon our return from Florence, we found the hotel they'd booked us into (which also was quite nice) and discovered a bottle of champagne from the staff at Le Clarisse along with a heartfelt note of apology. So sweet! I'd absolutely go back to Le Clarisse.

We were fortunate to have found this beautiful little retreat in the middle of Trastevere. It came highly recommended by the proprietor of the Hotel Santa Maria a few blocks away - true to his word, it was fabulous.

The room we had, the Rosa Suite, was small by American standards, but it was plenty of room for two people and was spotlessly maintained. The bed was comfortable and the shower nearly a room unto itself. The desk staff was helpful and friendly, as was Mauritzio, who seemed to show up whenever we needed a ride to or from the airport no matter where we were in Rome (by all means, if you're flying in, arrange for your transfers through the Relais - it's not an easy place to find the first time, and Mauritzio is the epitome of charm.).

All the rooms open onto a well-maintained courtyard (a wonderful place to eat breakfast) and the Rosa also has a window onto a second courtyard, which tended to get noisy as people got up and started about their day - and that worked out perfectly for us as that kind of stirring is a much more peaceful wakeup than an alarm clock. Of course, if you don't want that morning wakeup, you can always close the window and turn on the air conditioner (we didn't as the room was just fine in mid-June with the windows open).

The hotel is on a quiet (at least by Rome standards) little street a few blocks from the medieval Santa Maria in Trastevere (even if you don't stay in Trastevere, you should visit this church and check out the piazza, especially in the evening when it's the place to be and be seen). There are dozens of very good restaurants within an easy five-minute walk (and while Spirito di Vino might be a seven-minute walk, it would be worth a seven-hour walk - which is about what you'd need to walk off dinner there. It was, by far, the most impressive meal we had in two weeks of eating at some very good restaurants in Rome - including Il Marguta).

We had scheduled a week in Trastevere and then a week in a hotel a block from Piazza Navona. While that hotel was more centrally located to many of the things we wanted to see, and it was a comfortable, friendly place, it didn't compare to Relais le Clarisse. I couldn't recommend a place more highly.