My wife and I will be in Rome for 4 nights this May, and I'm considering staying at the Hotel Romano near the Forum/Colosseum. It seems to get good reviews on Venere and Trip Advisor, and is reasonably priced (for Rome). I know many recommend staying nearer the Pantheon, but would this location be a major liability?

It would seem to offer close proximity to a large number of historical sites, and we are both city dwellers and therefore used to lots of walking. I think it would be easy enough to walk to the Trevi Fountain/Spanish Steps/Pantheon from this location, but please correct me if I am wrong.

A preliminary search of some of the other neighborhoods on Venere showed very few hotels under $300, which is kind of my cut-off.

Appreciate your input.

I stayed in a hotel further up Via Cavour a few years ago. I walked just about everywhere such as the places you listed. I didn't go as far as the Borghese Gallery but I did across the river to Trastevere....I think you should go for it! Enjoy!

It is walkable to the historic center. From the Coloseum/Forum area it depends on what side but count on at least a 10 minute walk to say the Pantheon and that would be walking fast. Once you're in the historical center everything is within a 10 minute walk at the most. By this I mean walking between and among the Campo Fiori, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps and Pantheon.

Hello mainegod, we stayed near the Colosseum one trip for a week and were glad we did. My husband loved wandering around the Forum and so the location was perfect. We have always walked everywhere in Rome and always found it the best way to see and experience Rome. It is a good excuse also to stop at an outdoor cafe and have a cold drink while relaxing and people watching.

Stayed at the Romano in May '06, it's a nice hotel.
Rated as a 2* but I say it's just as nice as a 3* which I usually stay in.

Now for my foolproof 'Distance & Time' gauge .

Look at your map; Using a piece of paper mark the distance from the *Front Door* of Termini Train station, down Via Cavour right to the entrance to the Roman Forum on Via d. Fori Imperiali. Which also is basically where the Hotel Romano is.

Now picture a nameless 52yr old man, overweight, with a drugstore OTC kneebrace on and puffing on a Marlboro.

It took this nameless smoking fat guy exactly 20mins to cover that distance.

Now using that paper gauge put it at the corner of Via Cavour and Via d. Fori Imperiali and you can see how may of the sights *I* could walk too in 20mins from that hotel.

And hopefully you don't fit my profile so you'll be able to cover a greater distance within a 20 minute walk. Regards, Walter

Thanks all, this was a big help. I'm going to go ahead and book this right away!