I didn't have much time to plan this trip to Italy and D'Este were one of the cheapest hotels I found with rooms available. I must say I was a bit disapointed. The room was very, very small, even for european standards, and not so clean either _I found an old piece of cheese in the closet. The walls are also very thin, and I could hear every single conversation of the family that was staying next door. It sure has a great location, near the train station and just a 1 minute walk to a subway station. But I guess you can find better hotels at the same price range if you plan your trip more carefully.

I was looking for a cheap accomodation in Rome near the train station.. A friend of mine who lives in Rome suggested me this hotel now owned by Chinese people.. The hotel is small in a very good location near to the subway.. I had a single room and it was pretty small but clean and with a comfortable bed.. The only bad thing was the breakfast! The milk of the automatic machine was like cheese.. I drank only water because everything seemed to me uneatable! But you can go to the many bars along the street to avoid it..

My boyfriend and I went to Rome for the first time for 7 days in the first week of February to celebrate my 21st. First of all we had booked in The Hotel Meeting, but when I researched this hotel more I realised that it was too far away -- 5 miles from the centre of Rome and in the middle of an industrial estate...sooo we cancled our booking there and opted for Hotel D'este. Being that we are both in our early twenties. (21 and 22) we are restricted due to the pricing of most of the hotels in Rome. So we weren't expecting much, just somewhere basic and clean. And after reading a few negative reviews on here we were a little apprehensive. HOWEVER!!! Research does pay off....we flew from Gatwick to Ciampiano, and opted to get the lowcost coach to the hotel (E13 ish for a return) this took us to the main train station Termini. Thankfully we chose to walk to the hotel, literally, you walk through the main station and across a road and around the corner...about 10min walk whilst carrying cases, 5 mins otherwise!!! Sooo great impression because it's close to the central station and there is a tube line at the end of the road. (a 75min ticket costs E1 but a 24hr ticket costs only E4 sooo great value there...tubes are fast and frequent) BUT the Hotel was close to all of the main sites. The colosseum is about a 15 minute walk from the hotel, at the colosseum you'll find loooads of sites...it's recommended to walk around the back of the forum and up a steep hill to go to Plazza di Malta at the top of the hill you'll find a gorgeous quite park area, lined with cyprus trees and you get an amazing view over Rome and the River Tiber. The hotel room when you first arrive may seem abit dark but for gods sake...just open the windows and pin back the shutters!!! And you'll see the room for what it is, clean, tidy, cosy and a perfect base for trekking about Rome. The breakfast is typically continental....croissants, cereals, cold meats...not a wide selection but enough and satisfying. There was a fridge in our room, so took a walk to the supermarket (about 3/4 doors up from the Hotel, and it's located downstairs in what appears to be a department store / coffee shop) you can stock up on the basics here and atleast have some treats for the room and make up sandwhiches to take when walking about. We just wish we'd make up a picnic and gone to that park I've already told you all about....it's worth it. The Spanish Steps, Pantheon and Fontana di Trevi can also be accessed from the Hotel on foot...providing you don't mind the 20-30min walk. You can get the tube here...but you have to get off at the stop for Fontana Di Tritone...from here its about a 5 - 10 min walk. Personally I recommend having a walk and a wander....that way you can really see what Rome has to offer...have a nose in the shops, backstreets and restaurants. The closest site to the hotel is the Basilica di Saint Maggoire...that's the big church you can see in the photos from the view of one of the rooms...def go in here it's beautiful. The staff in the hotel are really friendly and there are tourist maps in reception for you to take, the guy at reception showed us some of the best routes to walk on it, but my boyfriend and I preffered to wander. Do!! go across the road the hotel is on, cut down the side street where there is a small church -- you'll find an amazing cake shop near here. ANNND when you get to the Pantheon....find Las Palmas (i think it's called...i've never seen soo much delicious ice cream) and then go around the corner to Giolotti (another Gelataria....but omg the ice cream is amazing...they even used to deliever to the Pope in his summer residence apparently) --- in both a large ice cream is about E2.50 - E3.50 depending if you have a cone or not etc. You can hear some noise of people in there rooms around you in the hotel, but its nothing to worry about. Just seems to be people potching about getting ready to go out. Again like I said the staff are really helpful and friendly and speak reasonably good english :) but atleast try a little italian...if you get it wrong who cares it's just good fun :) We also did a day trip to Pompei...highly recommend this and another bonus of having the hotel close to Termini station....booked the day before to get the train at 7am from Termini - Napoli then change here to go to Pompei. BUTT in Napoli ignore the men shouting 'pompei pompei' they'll take u straight to the train, on the train, sit you and ask for money. It's easy enough soo just avoid these and in Rome itself don't accept anything off the street vendors .... esp the ones selling roses and trying to take pics of you at the Fontana di Trevi. If they say it's free ignore it really. OOo yeh our room, didn't have a bath, just shower. But it's a lovely shower and we had no problem with the temperature of the water it was nice and hot. And there was a wall hair dryer but girls take your own anyway it's more of a hoover and thought i'd give it a go atleast once but it takes ages. But other than that. Rome is beautiful, the Italians are great and friendly, the Italian drivers really are crazy and D'Este is a really good base!!! As for Hotel Meeting, we passed that on the coach to the hotel...it's next to a Toyota Garage and is right on the motorway -- if you're thinking about that one, just say no and go with D'Este :) Enjoy Rome all :)

Booked this hotel online via an agent, then read the reviews.. Was expecting to be disappointed, but we enjoyed our stay. The hotel has perhaps seen better days & may be a little faded but it was very clean & there was plenty of hot water & breakfast was standard continental fare - pastries, breads, cheese etc. The room t.v. was standard Italian stations - but to be honest we didn't go to Rome to watch t.v.! It was really handy for the Termini station (far enough away to not be bothered by the noise) & the subway & we felt safe walking in the area around the hotel at night. For a relatively cheap hotel I was more than happy with the standard.