Cinquantatre Hotel

The Hotel Cinquantatre is typically Italian; small but perfectly formed! I went to Rome for the first weekend in September 2005 with my friend, and had a wonderful time.
We saw the Spanish Steps, the Trevi fountain, The Pantheon, The Forum, the Coleseum, St Peters Basilica, the art gallery at the Palazzo Barberini, countless Piazzas and fountains, and many churches, as well as the wonderful shops. We saw all this in two days which was made possible by the perfect location of the Hotel Cinquantatre: (San del Basilo 53) just up the street from the Piazza Barberini and very near to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Also there is a metro station just down the street at Piazza Barberini. The metros are clean safe and easy to use. I recommend that you buy a four euro all day ticket which means you can use the metro as much as you want that day; a bargain!
We had some great food especially at the Othello Trattoria on the Via della Croce and the Rossini Restorante on the Via Dei Cappucini.
The hotel Cinquantatre is clean, the rooms are beautifully furnished, and the staff are very helpful and friendly. Breakfast is served on a fantastic roof terrace and you can eat as many croissants, rolls, yoghurt, cereal etc. as you wish, and drink as much coffee and juice as you need. If the weather is bad (it was very hot when we were there) the dinning room is very pretty and roomy. We found the beds and pillows extremely comfortable and in spite of the central location the hotel is very quiet and restful; a good nights sleep can be achieved easily. We will certainly use the hotel Cinquantatre the next time we visit Rome.
A tip at the airport: if you're not going by train, don’t take a taxi, take a shuttle bus. These are mini buses that hold six people, it costs only twenty euros each and drops you off at your hotel. I can't remember the name of the firm but if you go past the escalator for the Station it's the first ticket booth on your left.
You might have to wait a few minutes for the bus to fill up, but it doesn’t take long. Also the trip back is at a reduced price if you use the same firm (they give you a ticket with the reduced price and the telephone number to ring to book for going back) we only paid 15 euros each for the trip back. Don’t use any shuttle bus or taxi that hasn’t got proper local council ID. The fellows for the shuttle bus wear their ID round their necks; easy to spot!
Rome is a beautiful and vibrant City with some of the friendliest people in the world; I recommend it to everyone.