I agree with most of the previous comments regarding the Hotel Stella, thus will not repeat them. My review centers on the booking process, Hotel Stella’s web site and their “Best Rate Guarantee.” I usually try to book via hotel web sites for budget hotels, recognizing that it’s better for a budget hotel, not to have to pay a commission to booking engines. Because Hotel Stella also offered a “Best Rate Guarantee” I made my reservation with confidence. Misguided! I made a reservation for 3 nights, the first night I accepted a triple room because a single was not available; the other two nights I booked a single room. On their reservation page I requested a single room for the first night, should one become available. Later I checked Booking.com and found that they offered a single room for all three nights and at a lower rate then Hotel Stella’s web site.

When I checked in I asked the receptionist about the “Best Rate Guarantee” and he told me that it only applied to reservations made by telephone, although this is not indicated on their web site. He also said that they must pay their web site money for each booking, thus the reason why it only applies to telephone reservations. I asked if they had changed my booking as requested to a single room on the first night, but they had not, even though a room had become available, but was no longer available upon my arrival. When I checked out I asked Rodice, the receptionist, again about the Best Rate Guarantee and what it means. She couldn’t tell me and basically said that other published rates might be better, but there is no recourse. I asked if they would adjust the rate of my triple room to a single room and she refused. Thus I would not recommend booking via their web site, until you check out a few booking engines.

The triple room I had for the first night was on the 6th floor, which looked entirely different from the hotel, giving me the impression that they were private apartments. There are no numbers on the doors and I had to return to reception to find out which room I was in and request assistance opening the door because there are two sets of locks and one key.

Both the triple room and the single room were very clean. The single room bed was very uncomfortable. The “rich continental breakfast” does not have cold cuts as advertised on their web site and the cheese is processed cheese in individual wrappers. Not the best breakfast especially if you are staying a few days, but certainly not the worst I have had either! The internet site pictures of the rooms seem professional staged and don’t reflect the current status of the rooms, which isn’t bad, just a bit more “used” looking. The current picture showing a brown sofa tucked in the left hand corner, lots of glass windows and a vast reception area IS NOT the Hotel Stella.

Free internet available, good secure storage and a bathroom for use after checkout. Overall the rooms are functional and very clean; my main disappointment was in the booking process, honesty and lack of costumer care by reception. There is definitely room for improvement!

Hotel Stella is a beautiful small hotel in the edge of the centre of Rome. It s connectivity to the centre is great, thanks to the metro line (not that useful in the end) and the number of buses. The bus route was mostly 10-15 min without traffic and tah-tah, we could dine at piazza navona or visit a few museums. Via Castelfidardo is a very quiet road and around the corner there was a super market, where we bought italian delicacies.
The room itself was small, but clean and tidy, the bathroom super clean, the tv was working and we slept very well - what else should someone ask for? The whole elevator issue that others mention, i loved it as it is an element of the old houses of the town and i loved the fact i could use it as authentic italians do.
The problematic areas of the hotel are undoubtly the breakfast and secondly the reception. The breakfast was poor and as i love my sleep we wld always be the last ones before closing, so there wld be no bread or strawberry jam!! Also, althought the night shift guy was super helpful, the other receptionists were kind, but not helpful, something that a tourist always needs.
Last note - since we were out and about the whole day and we came back at night for shower and sleep, this hotel offered us what we needed, good location, close to centre, warm water and good night's sleep.
Recommended!

Most of the things, one is to expect from a 3 star hotel. They therefore did not influence my rating. Others one does not always expect which can be either good or bad. These did influence my rating.

I start by saying I would recommend this place if you want a little bit more "leisure" then you would expect from a 3 start hotel but mainly use the hotel to sleep in, because your aim is to work, or travel around Rome all day, like I did.

The positives;

- cheap price

- location well connected by Metro (Termini - line A and B, Costro Pretorio - line B, Republica - line A). Nevertheless, beware of Termini after 7pm - some rather dodgy characters turn up. You should be fine if in a group and/or highly aware of your surroundings.

_ exceptionally clean place. Bathroom always cleaned spotless and bed always tidied wrinkeless. Except the last night where the room smelled slightly like the maid had eaten a tuna sandwich. I would not recommend the place to a germophobe due to the fitted carpet which though vacuumed is definitely not going to be dust and germ free.

- tv with good (non-crap) channels - as long as you understand Italian. I barely stayed at the hotel but sleeping to a good film on a nice 32 inch flat screen was a nice touch.

- personnel was helpful. Any question I had, they answered properly.

- after check out you can leave luggage in a safe place until it's time for you to leave

- the free internet point, recently installed, is definitely a value added. The internet point is really just an internet enabled PC. The PC was more tired than I was after 5 days of non-stop walking, but just for the fact a PC was even available this point does not effect my rating. The personnel were also kind enough to allow me to print all the the tickets I had bought online at no extra cost.

The negatives;

- breakfast was very limited as one would expect from a 3 star hotel. However I have been in a 2.5 star hotel in prague with a LOT more choice and quality of food.

- late check out not allowed

- Despite being helpful, personnel were arguably not that friendly - it's hard to see a smile even if you make them smile. I was told this is common place in Rome however I found many places (restaurants, etc) with a better attitude towards the customer.

- the hotel itself does not have a restaurant. for me this was not a big issue because I would rather eat all round Rome. If you need a restaurant close by, this is not a problem as the surroundings are littered with restaurants, osterias and bars. However quality is pretty low or/and expensive, with only a few exceptions.

- the worst thing about the hotel (but not sure if this is common to most of Rome - many forums seems to hint at this) is the noise. No double glazed glass, no sound insulation in the walls and ceilings/floors. You can hear people walking by your door (unless it's just because all the heavily obese and hyper people came out to party in the corridors between 11pm and 9 am), TVs, maids, people in the room above moving furnature every night (possibly in preparation for the hyper-obese party?), people going down the stairs, and finally drilling and other works going on within the shaft which my room window overlooked

I stayed at the hotel with my girlfriend from 9-12 December 2011. In bullet point format:

-Room is basic but perfectly adequate. We had no complaints.

-Breakfast. Continental. It is small compared to a fry up that's for sure but after the initial shock of not having a 5* hot breakfast the atmosphere has a relaxed ambiance about it....something we appreciated in Rome the more we stayed. Its a roll each, croissant each, tea, coffee, and that funny choice of pomegranate or purple juice! Comes with spreadable cheese, jam, honey all in mini packets, that sort of thing. I grew to like this as the start to the day.

-Location. Fantastic. Right near the Termini station. From here you can get the metro (two simple lines, A and B so easy to follow), bus, coach, open top tours. Makes life easy if you are there to explore, which we most definitely did.

Other tips:

-Airport to hotel. If you arrive anytime between 5am and 11pm you will find it easy to get from the airport to the Roma Termini. Bus, coach (simplest and £4-£6), taxi (£50 but share as we did and this drops). Be prepared to be rushed by taxis when you leave, just be patient, calm and make a choice if you prefer taxi for comfort, or coach for cost. If you arrive, as we did, after 11pm, signs may say a coach is available to 1am or later but they are not easy to find. So we found another couple, and shared a taxi with them. A lot of people head towards the Roma Termini, get here and your hotel is moments away.

Rome- You can not fully explore the ins and outs of Rome in 3 days but it was just right for us. You will easily cover the main tourist sights with a little time to check out the not so common places.

Roma Pass - we got one and it saved hassle more than anything. It gets you on all transport (but not to airport) so just on a bus, or the metro or tram and its free. Cost wise, we broke about even and it does save a queue into the Colosseo. You get free entry into two attractions plus discounts thereon, as least try to use the two free ones (Colosseo being one).

Cost - Its not that expensive. Food is reasonable, drinks..especially wine, is £5-£7 for .5 litre of house wine. Not forgetting that's 2/3rds of a bottle and considering that comes with a view of the Colosseo or Pantheon, it's very reasonable. If you want expensive try Brussels where a beer in central areas is £5+ a half pint (standard measure). Food, we never paid more than £50 / euro (rate pretty much even) and that included wine and a nice meal. We planned on £100 each a day but came back with plenty of change.

Vatican - We paid for one of the many tours on offer. It gets you in without queuing which is vital, if you are there for 3 days you have not got the time to queue. We paid £40/euro each which included the £25 of entry fees. Nice to have someone explaining what it is you are looking at and it lasted over 3 hours. Don’t miss the Pope at mid-day Sundays, all in Italian but very good experience.

Borghese - Book it. Cant be booked Sundays (although open), closed Mondays. This was our only mistake as we missed what we think would have been a good part of the break. The hotel will book for you.

Language: Learn just the most basic of words to get a good response from staff at the hotel / restaurants. Bonjourno, Arividerchi, Chow (spelling…???) is enough, it really helps.

Other reviews: Try to take some of the reviews with a pinch of salt. Some of the negatives (like breakfast) easily become positives with a positive frame of mind.

Have a great time :)