Has anyone had any experience staying in convents in Rome? We have heard they can be very nice. I stayed in the convent in Leon and it was extremely spartan. Thanks

I stayed at the Casa di Accoglienza Santo Spirito which is right in front of St Peter's Basilica. Very clean, simple rooms with a nice breakfast. The Franciscan sisters were wonderful in suggesting places to eat and arranging transportation to the airport for us. Check out their listing and others on www.santasusanna.org (under Coming to Rome)

Check out the monastarystays link on Santa Susanna and the hospites link. Monastary's website is much easier to use (Hospites is in Italian). I don't find the convents in Rome to be all that cheap for what you get (as you said - spartan).

This one is nicer than most with AC if that matters. Via Cavour is near the Coliseum so not the most desirable location.
http://www.suorebambinogesu.it/DNB/camere2.html

I stayed at a convent in Florence, although not Rome. So I can't comment on the Rome ones specifically, but I think you simply could not match the price for some locations, spartan or not.

Two that are in very popular locations are:
Istituto Santa Giuliana Falconieri, by Piazza Navona
Fraterna Domus, near the Pantheon

2* hotels in similar locations are upwards of 150 Euros per night.

An expensive, upscale convent (to the extent such a thing exists) is Casa di Santa Brigida, by Piazza Farnese, also a prime location. This one is in line with hotel prices in the area.

I stayed at Fraterna Dumus twice when travelling with my son. We wanted something very central (Piazza Navona), something very clean, at a reasonable price. It was perfect. They have an 11PM curfew. Not a bother to us because we were always back in our room and exhaused by 10:30 after a long day of sightseeing. Returning to Rome in September and could not get into Fraterna Domus so we booked at a convent just south of the vatican through 'monestary stays'. We are paying 75E. We travel frequently, this time for a full month. We don't like paying an high amount of money for a hotel in the heart of a big city. We look for something clean, safe, and well located. We also have four days booked in a monestary over looking the ocean in S'ant Angelo, just a kilometre of so from Sorrento.

I think you may find any convent "Spartan" - they are convents after all - not hotels. That;s why the prices are so incredibly low for the locations.

I stayed at a convent on Via Sistina, a few blocks away from Piazza Spagna, at 80 Euros for a double room with breakfast included.

It's called Nostra Signora di Lourdes and I totally loved it.

I was woken up by the nuns' chanting every morning. The palace where it's housed has a very spiritual atmosphere and, at nights, is so quiet that it's a bit disturbing.

The breakfast is very basic (bread, jam and coffee), there's a 11 PM curfew and you can only pay in cash.

It was spotless and the nuns were very friendly.

However, I met a guy who was also staying there and told me that he was checking out because he had found a hotel for the same fare, a better breakfast and, obviously, no curfew near the train station.