Fiance and I stayed at Rome 103 in June 2010 during our tour of Italy. We booked based on online reviews, price, and location. We had wanted an apartment so that we could cut costs by cooking some meals for ourselves, but it took us so long to find a grocery store, that it didn't end up working out that way.
We arrived in the evening to find that the staff speaks little to no english. We knew from reading other reviews that we were supposed to pay in cash upon arrival but if we hadn't already known that, I suspect that the staff wouldn't have been able to communicate it to us. The couches in the lobby stink like cigarette smoke, so I would advise against sitting on them.
Elevator is tiny, but the fact that they have one is still a good sign, as many european hotels do not.
Our apartment was spacious, with a large and well appointed bathroom. The kitchen, however, was a very small fridge, a sink, and a two-burner stovetop. Pots, pans and utensil were included for our use, but there are no "pantry staples" included, such as salt, or dish soap. The nearest grocery store is a fairly long walk, so we didn't have the opportunity to get any groceries until late in our stay, and found that when we did cook, we had no soap to wash the pots with afterward. One of the burners on the stove didn't work, and would in fact cause us to lose power to the whole kitchen area if we tried to use it.
Our apartment overlooked the street, on which they started construction every morning at 8 am. We wanted to request to move to another room, but couldn't communicate it to the staff so we just lived with it.
The bed was large and comfortable, but was in fact two single beds pushed together. They had a tendency to separate, and we were frequently trying to shove them back together.
The room had tons of storage space, a large closet to hang your clothes in, and a small couch and a working tv. I had read in a review that they had laundry facilities, however our apartment did not.
The apartment has no access to wireless internet, however there is a computer in the lobby that guests are welcome to use for free. They also allow you to print from it for free.
When I booked this apartment, I did so thinking that the Via Veneto neighbourhood was the one to be in, but we found it to be mostly overpriced restaurants and expensive sunglasses stores. I think it would have been better to be in the Piazza Navona and Pantheon district, to be closer to the attractions (Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, Pantheon, Colliseum, Circus Maximus, etc.) and have better access to fairly priced restaurants.
A shining point in our stay at Rome 103 was a restaurant around the corner called La Bruschetta, and we would definitely recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in the area.
