Hotel Colonna in Rome for 1st time visitor
 

I have been looking on expedia and travelocity and this hotel, nr. Trevi Fountain and Spanish steps looks good.

Anyone with exper.

I am looking for a centrally situated hotel. I have heard that what is a 3-star in U.S.. would be a 4-star in Rome. True?

I am looking for a little bit more than just a bed.

Any advice on any hotel centrally located would be appreciated.

Used the forum last year to travel to London the first time. Great ideas made my trip great.

This is first time in Rome for me, so any ideas for first-timers much appreciated

Just returned from all over Italy and in Rome, we stayed at the Residenza Cellini. GREAT place! 165 euro per night, not sure if that is too much. The room was really nice, private bath, great breakfast, quiet street and we could walk to everything except the Vatican.

don't know this hotel but here are some at which i have stayed ... HOTELS: condotti, san carlo and siena - all good and near the spanish steps - best locale for fun as well as easy (walking) access to everywhere you want to go in roma !

MUST go to the roman forum (if you like history - amazing to walk on "streets" so very very old ...

pantheon, piazza navona for tartufo at tre scalini (and for dinner anywhere) great social scene too ... also to check out the bernini fountains, fontana trevi to toss a coin in so that you are sure to return to rome (and because it's beautiful), mario's for pasta putanesca, giolitti's for gelato, antica forno for best pizza roman style and, of course, vatican city and the sistine chapel ... ask your concierge for a recommendation for a good bar/nightclub nearby - watching the romans interact socially is vibrantly fascinating, campo dei fiori while the flower market is open - beautiful ... and then all the other amazing places rome has to offer - including the byron keats museum ... so much, i don't know where to stop ... you'll have an amazing time ! buon viaje ! :)

Thank you. I get so excited about going I am too quick to book on impulse. Last summer in London it worked out fine, but I think I could have done better if I'd spent more time on fodors.com.

This year I am going to try to restrain myself until I get more advice!

I looked up the Colonna Palace on www.tripadvisors.com and the reviews are pretty good. The rooftop terrace sounds especially nice.

Ideally I'd like to be a little closer to Piazza Navona/Campo dei Fiori, but that's niggling. You should be fine. (But slow down and enjoy the research!)

We stayed at the Hotel Nazionale e Montecitorio and not the Colonna so I can only comment on the location (both are on the Piazza Montecitorio), which we think is terrific. The square is quiet, traffic free and the home of Italy's Parliament building so there is always lots of security around.

Most sites are within walking distance...the Pantheon is right around the corner, as is Giolitti for delicious gelato.

Most frequent visitors to Rome will suggest the Piazza Navona/Pantheon/Campo de Fiori area as being most central.

One of the favourite hotels mentioned on this board is the Albergo del Senato. Since the del Senato is a 3-star hotel and since it has been said that some of the rooms are small, you might want to look into the superior rooms and suites. The Grand Hotel de la Minerve is a 4-star hotel in the area.

The San Carlo and the Condotti are at the Spanish Steps; I have never heard of the Siena. Some people like the Spanish Steps area, but it is less central to most of the main points of interest in Rome than the Piazza Navona/Pantheon/Campo de Fiori area.

The Campo de Fiori, incidentally, is not a flower market (although there are flower stalls) but a fruit and vegetable market, surrounded by bakeries, butcher shops, etc. It is probably the best known and liveliest market in central Rome. It is only open in the morning.

There is no Byron-Keats museum in Rome; the Shelley-Keats Museum is on the Piazza di Spagna.

I also would recommend the Hotel Nazionale Montecitorio, on the same large and quiet piazza as the Colonna Palace.
You get a bit closer to the Pantheon at the Del Senato, on the Piazza Rotunda.
One of the differences between European hotels and those in the U.S. is many European hotel rooms have size variances, even though they may all have the same amenities. In the U.S. rooms are more standardized.