We've stayed here a few times on short visits to Naples and it's fantastic value for money in a great location in the old part of the city (not far from leafy Piazza Bellini and its book-lovers' cafes, just around the corner from the eerie Cappello Sansevero and a few steps away from both Via Tribunali and the Piazza Dante stop on the Metropolitana). You just can't beat the price! We paid 50 euros for a double room with shared facilities (shower and toilet - there are two bathrooms so you may need to step lively to get in in the morning). Apparently there is an en-suite room for 65 euros if you don't want to wait for a shower... The rooms are nice, clean, freshly painted and simple (powerful fans and high ceilings are a bonus when it's warm) and the friendly people who work there speak enough English to get by, though it helps if you speak a little Italian (they don't seem to mind bad grammar).

The building is apparently 18th century and it has a lovely and cool courtyard; you can hear violin students of varying degrees of awfulness going through their paces in the ground floor flat on the left as you prepare to walk up the - okay, this may be a drawback for some - five flights of stairs to the Imperia. (Mind you, after all that pizza and ice cream, the exercise is probably a good thing.) Apparently they now take credit cards (the Rough Guide says they don't but it would now seem otherwise). Breakfast isn't included in the price but there are some great little cafes just downstairs and a post office (and a newsagent's kiosk with lots of postcards) are just out the door to your left.

If you're not looking for American-style antiseptic and anonymous business hotels and you don't mind a bit of noise in the street below (the usual manic Vespas and voluble conversations) you'll find this place a fantastic and fully recommendable discovery. Just what you need if you don't want to spend a fortune, but want to feel like you've seen something of the real city you're visiting.