Originally Posted by
Perche
I'm not sure why safety would come up as a question. . .
Your real risk is staying at a terrible place like Boscolo Exedra. If you were going to a business convention then it would be a good place to stay because it has large conference rooms. Or, if you are going to Italy to just stay in the hotel and not go out it would be fine, because it's a nice hotel. But from a functional and esthetic perspective, you couldn't choose a worse location in all of central Rome than staying at the Boscolo Excedra. You will be staying on a huge traffic circle and bus stop with hundreds of buses and taxis parked in front, with horns honking, and emitting pollution. It has no sense of being in Rome. You might as well be in Chicago. Other than a small piece of the ancient wall, there is pretty much no feeling that you are even in Italy. When you go outside it is ugly, and to go anywhere you might want to go it is too far, and unless you are a really good walker, you will need a taxi.
It's safe, the hotel is nice, but the location is very bad for someone going as a tourist, unless it is a tourist who just wants to stay in the hotel and not go out. Most of the USA chain hotels are located a bit too far away from where things are happening. I'm a runner and strong walker, and I know Rome, so I could get from Boscolo to Piazza Navona without getting lost walking for half an hour, and I can get back the same way, cutting through the back streets. I suspect you are going to be needing taxis for everything if you stay out there. Unless you just like staying in the hotel, the only reason I can see for staying there is it's for one night, you're not going out, and you have an early train to catch, because it's just a few blocks from the train station, the only bad neighborhood in central Rome.
Perche, as usual, super helpful information. Thank you. I had heard the area near Boscolo had gotten run down but perhaps what the person meant was that it became overrun with tourists and traffic, not unsafe. Thank you for that clarification.
I was disappointed to read that we would need 30 minutes to walk to Piazza Navona or the areas we really would want to be from Boscolo, but appreciative of the information. On the website, it appears as if Boscolo is so centrally located to things tourists want to see, but judging from this entire thread, it really sounds like it may be close to sights but not the quaint part of Rome that tourists want to experience.
Based on the suggestions here, we are going to scrap the Boscolo and stay in a smaller, local hotel suggested here in the Piazza Navona area when we go. Thanks again!