The room, bedding and facilities were clean but the TV did not work and the fridge only operated when the room key was in its holder - no cold drinks except in the morning!
The dining room is only big enough for about a third of the guests at one time. However the staff are friendly and helpful.
It is very convenient for the bus and train stations and close enough to most of the tourist attractions to reach by foot (in comfortable walking shoes) and there are plenty of reasonably priced cafes and restaurants nearby.
Finding it is not straightforward: it is on the south side of the Esquilino Piazza through a door to private apartments as well as the hotel. Then into a dingy courtyard and to the right up one floor to reception. (At night you have to buzz the intercom in the street.)
We only stayed a few days and had good weather, doing little more than sleeping and washing in the room, which was above a busy street. Not recommended for long stays.
A note about travelling from Fiumicino Airport to the centre: shuttle buses (8Euros one way) go every 20 minutes and take about 1hour 10minutes, the train (15Euros) is every half hour and takes around forty minutes and is only called an express because it doesn't stop at any intervening stations!

I spent one night at the hotel. Having searched for the entrance, I eventually noticed the small sign and entered through a shared, dirty, smelly corridor. After checking in I negotiated my way past the bicycles, suitcases and paint tins in the corridor to get to my room. Among other things, the 20-year old television didn't work, the bathroom light was broken, the air-conditioning was set at 22 degrees and couldn't be changed and there was no chair in the room (I didn't even ask about Internet). It was convenient to the station and my meeting place, but if I was staying more than one night I would definately have moved to a different place to stay. Although it is called a hotel and charges hotel prices (it cost me 113 euro), it is no more than a 'stopping place'. The location and reported (in other reviews) friendly staff in no way make up for the poor quality room and breakfast in this establishment.

It was a great location but it is very basic and more in the style of a 'travellers' hostel' than a hotel. As we spent all day out and about it was fine in terms of providing a bed for the night - until day 5 when we discovered our first bedbug. Of course, once you spot one...... It also explained the 'mosquito bites that no-one else in Rome seemed to be suffering from. (Many people don't react to the bites initially - we both ended up with literally hundreds of bites but my companion's didn't show up until the day we returned home.) It ruined our trip and resulted in us having to dump all our non-washable items including shoes, bags, books, hats, and suitcases to avoid bringing any hitch-hikers into our home. A year later, having taken these precautions, our home has remained bug free. I would hope the hotel has since fumigated but we would warn all travellers not just at this hotel but all hotels in city centres to check for bugs when they arrive - and if you do find you've been in an infested room, to keep all luggage out of your home and to dump anything that can't be hot washed/hot dried.

My brother and I stayed at Hotel Esquilino for 2 nights. We had received a confirmed booking for 3 nights, however we were forced to stay in a 1 star hotel (Hotel Tizi) on the other side of Rome after arriving to find that the hotel was in fact full for our first night - despite the booking. No offer to help us get there, and the man at reception was very rude. We also had to use other guests to translate as he spoke absolutely no english at all. Not a good first impression.

Positive comments:
- good location, assuming you actually are able to stay at this hotel for all nights booked.
- decent continental breakfast, although you will most likely have to wait for space in the breakfast room, and the man at reception will pace the room looking frustrated until you leave to make room for waiting guests.
- shower was large and always warm.

Negative comments:
- hard to find as you need to enter courtyard before you reach main entrance.
- very rude and unhelpful staff, besides the man who was there on our last day - he spoke some english and seemed polite.
- no air con, which would be fine if a fan was provided but also no fan, made worse by the fact that the window opened on to the inner courtyard so there was no breeze, very hot nights.
- the minibar that was advertised was in the room, but unplugged and dusty so virtually unusable.
- the beds were held together with masking tape.
- the door handle to the bathroom was broken.
- we asked 3 staff members on seperate occassions for the internet password, and were given 3 different answers - none of which worked.
- room not cleaned on the 2nd day, only fresh towels were left in the entry.
- based on previous reviews about suspected staff theft, we locked up our personal items during day and night, but felt uneasy for the entire stay based on the nature of the staff, although thankfully nothing was stolen.
- when we asked about compensation for the inconvenience the hotel had caused, we were rudely refused and told that they would not budge on price.

I would advise you to spend a little more money and stay somewhere decent. We thought that its great location would make up for any negative aspects, but we were extremely disappointed. We will not be returning to Hotel Esquilino.