My wife and I are looking for a very special hotel in the heart of Rome, preferably 250 euros or less. Would like a clean room with nice bathroom, great views, and/or a rooftop terrace for breakfast or dinner. We would welcome any suggestions.

Residenza Canali ai Coronari fits your requirements. Right in the heart of historic Rome, a 5-minute walk from Piazza Navona, yet it feels very private and quiet. We stayed there for 4 nights in September 2008. We loved it so much that we returned for 4 nights last month. If you are able to book the topmost room, you will have your own spacious terrace that overlooks the beautiful Via dei Coronari.

The reason that this wonderful little hotel is less expensive than some in the area is because there is no elevator. The staff speaks English.

http://www.residenzacanali.com/01english.html

Hello, LucieV, that is a very charming hotel and I love the location. Personally I don't like elevators all that much so if there is a hotel employee to carry my bag stairs work for me! Enjoy fabulous and vibrant Rome, Cally and I am sure you and your wife will.

Sofitel Roma fits your description. Lovely rooms, smaller hotel on a quiet side street very near to Via Veneto, and a rooftop garden where we went every evening with a bottle of wine to enjoy the views. Of the ten or so hotels we have stayed in, this is one of our favorites at that price point.

Also a great hotel that suits your needs is Hotel Capo d'Africa. Very nice rooftop terrace and in a quiet street near the Colosseum. The breakfast room looks out over the Colosseum, quite an amazing site at that level.

Albergo del Senato is a wonderful hotel right in the center of the historic district. The rooms are beautifully decorated and the bathrooms are large and very modern. The hotel is directly across from the Pantheon and many of the rooms have a view of the Pantheon. There is a rooftop bar where you can sit and watch the sunset. If you read the reviews on Trip Advisor, you can get a great feel for the place. They have outstanding service.

Check out the Hotel Forum.. it has all the features you request. Lots of photos on the web site/

www.hotelforumrome.com

Cally,

Be very careful about booking a room at Residenza Canali. After reading the rave reviews, we booked a room in April 2008.

The terrace rooms were unavailable, but we thought that surely the other rooms would be fine.

Wrong. Our room (don't remember the number, but it was on the level right above the office, with the door opening right at the top of the stairs) was probably the worst hotel room we have ever had.

It was extremely small, and there was really no place to put anything if you wanted to walk from one side of the room to the other.

The bed appeared to be a sleeper sofa which was opened up.

But the bathroom was fine, as was the breakfast and the staff.

We are not ones to complain, but we were extremely disappointed in Resienza Canali.

Just a little word of warning to request one of the better rooms.

Byrd

"The rooms are beautifully decorated and the bathrooms are large and very modern. The hotel is directly across from the Pantheon and many of the rooms have a view of the Pantheon. "

I can add a similar warning as our room at the Del Senato was so small we barely had room to walk around the queen sized bed. And the bathroom was similarly cramped.

Sorry about that, Byrd. Also surprised: Residenza Canali remains one of my favorite hotels ever. After our first visit in September 2008, we couldn't wait to return. So when we scheduled a last-minute trip to Rome last month, we tried to re-book, but they were full. We kept our names on a waiting list; e-mailed them every day in hopes of a cancellation; & booked another hotel that had a 2-day cancellation policy. We were ecstatic when there was a last-minute cancellation at RC 3 days before our arrival in Rome! (And our 2nd visit, though in one of the smaller rooms, was every bit as delightful as our first visit when we stayed in the topmost suite.)

I guess it just goes to show, we each experience things quite differently. In any case, because of my personal experience, I will continue to recommend RC highly!

It is true, as LucieV writes above, that "we each experience things quite differently". However, I must add that it has been MY experience that pretty much all hotels have their "great" rooms and their "lousy" rooms. Some hotels are in the process of refurbishing or construction when one decides to visit. Others have "annexes" to their regular hotel where they sometimes put guests when their regular hotel is full (and sometimes will tell you beforehand and other times not). It is really a "crap shoot" sometimes when you reserve a room at any hotel. You never know what you may be getting, unless of course you become a "regular" and you know the owners, the rooms availble, etc. and you can ask for a specific one.

In larger hotels, it is my experience that the rooms are more consistent and one can find more specific details about the individual room categories. I can choose whether to spend more for a larger room but it is clearer what I am getting for my money.

That's true, kfusto. However, I am one of those people who infinitely prefer to stay in small hotels -- those places that were called "pensiones" in the old days! (Like the Residenza Canali, which has only 10 rooms.)

I was responding to Flames' post: "I must add that it has been MY experience that pretty much all hotels have their "great" rooms and their "lousy" rooms". I have seen the inconsistency more often in small inns.

We all have different preferences and I like a hotel with a gym and a business center along with a lobby bar. And my husband prefers the anonymity and privacy of a hotel over an inn. It's nice there are options to suit all styles.

That is true kfusto. We rarely stay in larger hotels and prefer the small family-run type place. The one time we did stay in a large hotel it is pretty safe to say that the rooms were indeed "cookie-cutter type", i.e. mostly all the same.

"The one time we did stay in a large hotel it is pretty safe to say that the rooms were indeed "cookie-cutter type", i.e. mostly all the same."

In Europe, we have not found that to be the case at all, with a wide range of options available. We have had rooms ranging from very small and spare to those with frescoes on the ceiling and balconies overlooking the rooftops.

Sounds like your one experience was not a positive one.

There are also some small properties in Europe I very much enjoy and will book based on pricing and availability. I have found that "special" comes in all sizes.