We arrived at Rome Termini station quite late (almost midnight) and told the hostel so beforehand. We had just turned on to via Castelfidardo when all of the sudden a man squatting on the side of the street said out of no where "are you XXX"? And yes we were! He was waiting to check us in. He helped us with our bags up the stairs to our room and told us we could pay in the morning. Our triple room was just as we expected from the pictures we saw online.

Later in the morning, we were welcomed with a simple breakfast of coffee and croissants from Pino, who spoke excellent English and was very charming. The breakfast room only accommodated about 5 people so you had to wait your turn. He told us the hotel's wifi key, to watch out for pickpockets and wished us well on our adventures. He also answered our queries about booking train tickets as best he could.

The hostel is on the 2nd floor, while the first floor is a restaurant. It's located near the train station but is also pleasantly away from the hustle and bustle. Not bad at all!

We chose Independence Square primarily because of the price (around 50 Euros/night). We were pleasantly surprised to find it to be a great spot from which to explore Rome.

Independence Square is a 5 minute walk from the Termini station. From the Termini you can catch either subway line and buses to most areas of the city. As well, many of the guided tours of the city and to locations outside the city depart from the Termini.

The room was clean and comfortable and contained air conditioning. Upon our arrival, the owner sat down with us to give suggestions for sights to see in Rome and provide information about using public transportation.

We ran into a strange situation our first night as the power went out on the entire city block. The owner was quite apologetic and did everything he could to help. Also, he promptly fixed the lock on our room when we found we it wouldn’t lock from the inside.

Breakfast was your typical Italian breakfast and consisted of juice, tea or coffee and two croissants. Pino, who works the breakfast at Independence Square, was also helpful with providing suggestions of what to see and do in Rome. As well, he gave us extra croissants to take (they were prepackaged) knowing that we had a couple of early mornings where we’d be departing before breakfast.

Wireless internet was available in the rooms free of charge and the room had a fridge that we could use.

Me and a mate stayed two nights here at the end of September - the room was a bit small but other than that very friendly and knowledgable American chap. Good location, close to the station but in a nice area and 10 minutes walk to all the sites. Nice simple breakfast too.

Independence square is good for budget, host is very friendly and gives advice and any help you need.
Rooms are very small but we coped. Breakfast consisted of 2 pastries and tea or coffee and an orange juice which was fine with us.
About 10 minute walk from termini, supermarket nearby and we had a fridge in the room so could store water and few snacks.
I would recommend for travelling on a budget.