Brilliant hotel for what we paid. it's one of the cheaper hotels we found and it had a good location and our room was lovely - very clean, roomy, and we even had our own private little garden out the back! The guy who runs the hotel was really helpful, provided us with maps and tons of information, recommendations and tips on our arrival. The location is good - a short walk from the colosseum, not far to nearest metro stations and not far from Termini station. It's not the prettiest area of Rome but very handy. Would recommend if you're travelling on a budget.

I stayed at The Secret Garden in the single room (Room #1) for 5 nights in July and found the place to be perfectly adaquate for my needs. My room had a mini-fridge, a kettle to boil water, ceiling fan, comfortable bed, TV, safe, cabinet, decent private bath...everything I needed. The place is located only maybe 5-to-10 minutes walking distance from the Termini Station. Note: When leaving the Termini Station after taking the train from the airport make sure you take the "South" exit instead of the the main "West" entrance/exit since its closest to the hotel else you'll have to walk all the around the station. The Hotel is also located 5 minutes walking distance to the nearest Metro station so its convenient to get to any of the touristy spots of Rome from here. The Coliseum is only a 15 minute walk from here. Across the street is a great pizzaria place and another street across is a good supermarket to stock up on supplies. At first sight, the area might seem "seedy" because of the graffiti but you'll realize this is everywhere. Trust me, this area is pretty safe. When arriving its best to carry a cell phone with you as if you arrive late like I did, there may not be an employee there to let you in. My flight was delayed so when I got to the front door I had to call the hotel and 5 minutes later an employee named Alessandro arrived by moped and let me in and checked me in at the reception area. I stayed in the hot summer month at the end of July but found to room to be relatively cool with a ceiling fan and window. Overall, a great stay for a solo traveler at the Secret Garden in Rome.

Close to the centre, bargain price, lovely little room with character, great A/C, decent bathroom, good size.... what more could you want!!
There is a 'slight' issue with the fact there is no reception... but that's cool - just phone them! We arrived early... rang, waited ten minutes and our charming host arrived... having spoken to his charming mother. Lovely family hotel, really clean, i would recommend it to absolutely ANYONE! It's brill... we only saw one room - our one, room 3, but it was charming and full of character... far better than a souless chain!
Well done the Secret Garden - PERFECT!

The "secret garden" is a perfect, small hotel. we were at the suite which was more then perfect, it was very spacious, the bed was amazingley comfterble, and the price was the cheepest we paid in Europe. the only bad thing is the fact they don't have a reception, after saying that I have to be fair and say that Giovanna, the hotel manager, was always available to us on the phone.
about the location, It's 5 minute walk from Termini staion which was perfect for us, people said it wasn't safe, it's not beverley hills, but i didn't feel unsafe for a second...