We just returned from a one-week stay at the Lemon Garden Bed and Breakfast in Rome. Our group consisted of two adults and two children, ages 6 and 7.

We were initially surprised to discover that this "bed and breakfast" is essentially very spare bedrooms with private baths inside an apartment building with regular tenants. When we booked the Lemon Garden, we did so because the amenities listed (and the pictures showed) a unit with a small kitchenette. Our son has food allergies and we anticipated needing to prepare breakfasts and snacks for him there. We were shown to a room with no kitchen. We ended up moving to another room mid-week, and that room did not have a kitchenette, either.

The first room we were in had a large bedroom and nice bathroom, but the air conditioner did not work and it was in the 90s and sweltering. The only way to get any kind of air circulation in the room was to open the one window, which then brought forth endless talking from the street and sirens all night long. After two days of this, we asked management to fix the AC. We returned from a day of activities to find that nothing had been done. They sent us a porter who threw up his hands in futility after doing nothing and then told us that he did not have AC in his home, so why did we need AC in our hotel room? My husband demanded to be moved to a room with AC, as I am six months pregnant and had spent one morning vomiting from overheating.

The first new room they took us to also did not have a working AC. The third room's AC was anemic but sufficiently cooled the room that we felt we could stay there. All three of the rooms had fans in them...evidence that management knew the AC was not working well in any of the units for some time.

In both rooms, the bathrooms were beautifully decorated and pretty spacious, but the shower left much to be desired. In the first bathroom, the water pressure was pretty weak and kept switching from hot to cold. In the second bathroom, the water would only come out in a weak trickle. It also cut in and out, from hot to cold. It was disappointing to be out sightseeing all day, walking in the heat, and not be able to take a decent shower at the end of the day.

The breakfast buffet that was available at the Atlante Star restaurant down the street (offered to Lemon Garden patrons) also left much to be desired. The buffet was supposed to go until 10:30 am, but the morning we got there at 10, the staff had already begun clearing things away. We barely were able to grab a pastry and cup of juice before they hauled everything away. There was no coffee or tea. Our last morning there, we were leaving in the shuttle at 7:30 am. At 7:15 am, we went up to the buffet to grab a cup of coffee and danish. I am a coffee fiend and I will drink coffee under just about any circumstances. But this coffee was lukewarm, bitter, and tasted as if it had been barely warmed up from the day before. There is NO WAY this was fresh coffee just 15 minutes into the buffet, with only a handful of people in the dining room. I doctored it with tons of milk and sugar, but still could not drink it. We left and got something at the airport that was edible.

Less than a year ago, we stayed at a hotel in Guatemala, in Guatemala City. We paid less for that hotel than the Lemon Garden, and the accommodations were infinitely better. We loved our trip to Rome and even plan to return there in a few years, but we would never stay at the Lemon Garden again. Its only benefit is that it is within walking distance of the Vatican. When you travel, even though you don't spend a lot of time in your hotel room, it should be a haven when you do. I can honestly say I have stayed in Motel 6s that were more comfortable than this "bed and breakfast."

We have just returned from our first trip to Rome and spent four days at the Lemon Garden. Bad points first - entrance to the Lemon Garden is down and around the grubby side entrance of a building a couple of blocks away from the Atlante Star Hotel (parent hotel). The apartment does not have a fully equipped kitchen - we had one wine glass, one tumbler and no facilities to make tea/coffee. There was no mini-bar, although we weren't particularly bothered about this, but when we were settling our bill we were asked if we had had anything out of the mini-bar!! Finally, and not the fault of the hotel, I had not packed a travel iron and my husband went to the hotel reception to enquire if we could borrow one as there were no facilites in the apartment, he was told no and directed down the road to a launderette, not somewhere you want to spend your holiday
Good points - the apartment is in an ideal spot and its easy to get around. Buses and metro station about 5-10 mins away and most areas within walking distance, i.e Vatican, Piazza Navona. The apartment was extremely clean and comfortable. There was a maid service every day and breakfast (you have to go to the Atlante Star Hotel) was wonderful with lots of choices. Unfortunately the roof terrace was closed for refurbishmebt but the view from the 6th floor restaurant of St Peter's Baslica was stunning.

Tip: if it's your first trip to Rome beware the Roman Guards outside the Colosseum - if they offer to take a photograph of you ask the price first. They offered to take a photo of me and my husband which I thought was quite nice of them. After they had taken the photo (with my own camera) they asked us for 20 euros each and got quite vocal when we objected to the price!!!

I wasn't completely thrilled with this hotel. It isn't convenient at all to the train station (and public transportation to get to the hotel was a nightmare). The room itself was extremely clean. The A/C was weak but not too bad. You have to check in at the sister hotel, which is a really fancy hotel, and kinda makes you feel small after checking into this 5-star hotel and walking over to the 2-star :-)

If you want to see the Vatican, it is a great location...just down the street.

If you want to see everything else in Rome there are 1000s of places closer.

The breakfast location on top of the hotel was being reconstructed when I was there (which was one of the main reasons I stayed at the hotel), so that was disappointing. The food itself at the breakfast was very tasty though and you really do have a great view of the Vatican from the breakfast room.

Travelers beware! "Lemon Garden" is a single code name for several different properties, each with different characteristics. What you see in the web site is VERY different from where you may end up staying at!

We booked one of "2 wonderful and luxurious fully equipped apartments that can accommodate up to 5 guests". What we received was a standard European (that is, small) hotel room in a nondescript apartment. For a hotel room it was OK, but this was NOT what we booked (or expected).

The room was small and rather old. It had an old closet, a table, a small TV and that's it. The bathroom was clean, but there were no towel racks and no way to hang the shower nozzle. There was almost no shelf space at all.

Breakfast was very nice. Other hotel services (provided by Atlante Star) were so-so. For example, you are not entitled to the hotel's free airport shuttle, and while they'll let you use their shuttle, they charge 40 Euro per person (whereas other services charge as little as 35 for up to four people). You can use the internet station at the hotel (for a charge that is double the going rate in internet cafes in Rome). Consierge advice was friednly but poorly informed.

If you need a place to sleep at while in Rome, this is a nice place; if you expect something even remotely similar to what the web site presents, look elsewhere. For a romantic getwawy, stay away from this place.