We stayed at Domus Betti from 7th to 12th April, booking our stay through the Domus Betti web site. We chose Domus Betti after a recommendation from a work colleague who had stayed there in autumn 2007, and we were looking for good budget accommodation in central Rome.

The Domus Betti is located just three minutes walk from "Ottaviano - San Pietro" metro station on line 'A' from Roma Termini main railway station, and is also 5 minutes walk from St Peter's Square, the Vatican and the Vatican museums. It is in a pleasant and safe neighbourhood with shops, trattoria, pizzeria, restaurants, bars, and other businesses.

There are several shops offering internet facilities also within a few minutes walk. The no.19 tram route passes by (which links the Vatican and the Villa Borghese park and museums, amongst other places) and there are 24 different bus routes serving the immediate vicinity too.

We arrived at Fiumicino Airport at 1800 and had just missed a 'Leonardo Express' to Termini when we arrived on the airport railway station platform, so we caught a local, stopping, train as far as Roma Trastevere station and took a taxi from there direct to the hotel. The metered fare from Trastevere to Domus Betti was €12.50.

On arrival, Mr Betti, the owner of Domus Betti, met us and we found him to be a very helpful, friendly and informative gentleman (but not intrusively so) - we couldn't have hoped for a better host.

We ate at a local Hosteria/Pizzeria (called "Da Vito E Dina" in Via Degli Scipioni a few minutes walk away) on our first evening which was recommended to us by Mr Betti and this proved to be our base for evening meals for the duration of our stay. It was a good budget choice with simple, but good, food (and a varied range, from starters and meat/fish dishes including some Roma specialities, as well as pasta and pizza) and all at good prices and with friendly service too.

Our room was of a perfectly adequate size, and although our (en suite) bathroom was small, this was a budget choice stay so we found it to be fine for the money we were paying which worked out at €110 per night for the room.

This also included a small breakfast of orange juice, cappuccino and a croissant which was brought to our room, and also an espresso afterwards too if we wished. This again we felt was fine for the price range we had chosen for accommodation for this trip. There was also a bowl of fruit in the room to eat from as we wished, with apples, oranges, kiwi fruit and a banana.

There was a mini-fridge in the room so that we could store our own cold drinks / other items, and there was a small television (Italian TV only), but we hadn't come to Rome to watch the television so didn't use it! There is no air-conditioning and the B&B is located on the first floor up in a residential block - the lift doesn't stop on the first floor but it is only 20 steps up, no big deal.

Our private bathroom was quite cramped but had a shower cubicle, lavatory and good-sized sink, as well as a hair-dryer, and was good enough to meet our needs for our stay.

All in all, I would recommend Domus Betti to travellers on a budget. Those who prefer more space and luxury always have the choice of paying much much more elsewhere.

We will be making a return visit to Domus Betti at some stage in the future to complete our sightseeing in Rome.