Having enjoyed my stay in some really homely and considerate hotels in Orvieto, Bologna, Venice and Florence, Hotel Lazzari proved different and cold. Hotel Lazzari is one of a few hotels /guesthouses housed in one building. Outside the gate you announce yourself and depending on the time of the day, you either report at the reception on the second floor or on the third floor. It is confusing and the experience is not helped by the geriatric lift.
While checking in, a rude shock was to be told not to keep my laptop bag on the only sofa in the office room because a family member sleeps on it in the night! Soon it became clear that Hotel Lazzari was an extension of the family apartment. One was on guard not to offend any house rule one doesn't know about, and it felt less like a hotel and more like a paying guest accommodation filled with the owner’s unseen presence.
I made the mistake of asking where I can find a bank to exchange my travellers cheques and the response made it clear that the hotel was no Tourist Info Centre. A couple of the staff appeared approachable. But I had had enough.
The room is moderately sized, the wooden floor, the windows and the new bathroom fittings looking welcome part of recent renovation. The ceiling is unusually high and the air conditioner effective, but the overall effect is somewhat spoilt by peeling wallpapers. Nothing really to complain about the room.
But I roughly measured the bathroom to be 4' x 4'. In a corner, curtained on two sides, is the shower area measuring no more than 2' x 2'. It wasn’t the best of feelings when the curtain kept feeling one’s body every now and then, when taking a shower. A six inch dia black hole above the shower, apparently the exhaust, was the other unnerving thing.
As for the location, it is a quiet street, not deserted at least till 11 in the night, thanks to a number of restaurants in near vicinity. I selected Hotel Lazzari based on some reviews on Tripadvisor which said it was 5 minutes away from Termini. Frankly, unless you are Usain Bolt, earmark more time even without heavy luggage. More importantly, the hotel is on the wrong side of the Termini Station, in relation to all tourist attractions of ancient Rome. The same distance on the other side would have been great.