We loved some parts of Discover Roma. The staff was friendly and helpful. The location was about a ten minute walk to the metro, but in a mixed tourist/residential neighbourhood which we appreciated. There was an outdoor street market a few steps from the hotel and we loved walking through that.

The room was large and had two large windows which faced the street, it was the largest that we stayed at in Europe. It was simply, but nice.

We did not like the breakfast in the morning which was cookies or pre-packaged toast biscuits. We would prefer that they not advertise themselves as a bed and breakfast if they are not going to provide a real breakfast.

For the price, we liked the accommodation. The bathroom was small, but not a problem. We also liked the large wooden door and ancient lift.

It is a walk to all of the sights (it becomes harder the longer you stay in Rome walking around each day!). There were plently of restaurants close by.

The noise from the streets was a bit loud on some nights. Overall we would consider staying here again, if traveling on a budget. If we had a bit more of a hotel budget, we would stay at a place that was closer to the sights and provided more of a real breakfast. Overall though, we were not disappointed with our stay.

We stayed at Discover Roma for two nights. We had a room facing the street. The room was large and clean. The towels were clean, but very thin. Did not enjoy the breakfast, consisted of bread and coffee.
The front desk was friendly and helpful. We paid 250E for two nights (Cash). The walk to the Republica metro was not that close. Not a problem when you're walking to it in the morning, but after a long day of walking, it feels far walking back. Last time I stayed by the Spanish Steps and if I had to do it again, I'd pay more to be right in the middle of everything.

The Discover Roma has to be the best value in the whole city. For like 60-70 euro it just cannot be beat. On the positive side the staff is very friendly, the rooms very large, clean and comfortable (though I wouldn't classify them as luxurious), and breakfast is brought to your room every morning. I really liked the location, though it isn't really next to any single big site. Everything is spread out in Rome anyway but I loved how this was a quick 5-10 minute walk from the central train station. From there you can catch a bus, either metro line, or trains to the airport. Perfect!

On the negative side of things, yes you really should pay with cash. I had read reviews and was prepared, and there are plenty of ATM's in the area so its no big deal. They do ask if you pay up front rather than upon checkout. Also as I said the location can be viewed as bad as you are not really close to any of the glamours sites except the main train station (but in my opinion this is really better because it gives you quick access to the entire city rather than just one of the sites).

Overall I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to see all of Rome and doesn't want to break the bank. Stay here and you will be under budget and able to splurge on a nicer hotel elsewhere (Venice?!)

We thought we would be better prepared after reading all the reviews but....

Through Venere, we paid 70 euros per night staying from 8th - 11th March 2007.

During check-in, the owner of the hotel showed us to the room before advising us to make full payment first upon arrival. He also gave us a map, advised us on the major attractions and recommended some good restaurants.

I took note that there was indeed a small display on the reception table indicating just that so we were cool about it. Also, there was another small display indicating that major credit cards are accepted.

Now, here comes the "crunch". : ) We deliberately asked him whether we could make payment with our credit card, he told us "not accepted".

I pointed out that "why bother displaying the signage when credit cards are not accepted"? And then he claimed that if we insist, we need to pay an additional 5% surcharge. We contested that it was not conveyed to us in the first place be it through their website or Venere's. Then he claimed that since we booked through Venere and that ours was a special rate hence we need to pay the extra. We added that for all the hotels we booked through Venere, we were able to pay using credit cards and none of them charged us any extra! He went on to say that we might have gone to the wrong website and blah blah blah.

Now, it's not so much about the 5% surcharge, it's about transparency and business integrity.

We were disappointed but then we sort of "asked" for it since we were already "informed" of his "games" through TA's reviews in the first place.

Being tourists, we wouldn't wish to aggravate the situation cos who knows what he'll be up to if we got our way and not pay the 5% surcharge?

Anyway, that was not a good start to our stay but nonetheless we decided to pay the surcharge. Somehow we couldn't withdraw cash using our cards from the ATMs.

The hotel is a 5 mins walk from Roma Termini and surrounded by many food and snacks options.

Their breakfast was served in the room but it was blah. Nothing fantastic. Biscuits, plain bread, juices and coffee.

Our room (street side) was spacious and clean but the walls seemed so thin that we could hear the street noise, people walking pass our room, doors opening and etc.

Housekeeping was adequate but here were no hand or face towels, only not-so-soft and absorbent bath towels. Same goes for the bedsheet, it was not as comfortable as another B&B that we've stayed in Florence.

There was a mini fridge and no hot water kettle. Shower area was ok and the water pressure so-so, if you need thorough cleansing then you gotta move out abit and use the hand held shower that is beside the toilet bowl.

Even though their website indicates the availability of internet access, there wasn't any. As usual, he claimed that they have some "projects" going on and internet connection was thus not possible.

IMO, he's a typical businessman who's going through the motions to make you feel welcome and at the same time trying his luck to increase his profit margins.

We won't be using this hotel as we are not comfortable with the "games" the owner is playing with his guests. This is our way to protest and hopefully he will stop his tactics soon.