It will be noisy, with street performers, and a general circus atmosphere in May, but tolerable. You just don't want to hang out there. Whatever you do, don't eat at any of the restaurants around the Piazza della Rotonda, the plaza in front of the Pantheon. I've been to the basements of several of them, and it is all basically box after box of TV dinner type food that they defrost, microwave, and serve to you. Most of it isn't even made in Italy. One of the restaurants directly in front of the Pantheon has a small bar, and for the last few years, more out of memories sake, I stop there for a glass of wine sometimes. There freezer with the frozen food is actually not downstairs, but in the bar itself, in freezers with glass doors. since you can see all the frozen food in there, I tried to take some pictures on the sly, just to show people what they are eating when in that neighborhood. I got some pictures but they noticed me, and rushed me, and started yelling, "No picture! No picture!" I went back in a few days later, and they had papered over the glass so that people couldn't see that the food they were eating was frozen. The Pantheon area is a really bad place for food. There is one gem, literally right around the corner, called Armando al Pantheon. It's first rate. Like all good restaurants in Italy, you are not getting in without a reservation made a day or a few days before. Facing the Pantheon, you go towards it, and when you get right to the Pantheon take a right. It's really that close, but it's the best restaurant in that area.

There are many nice rooftop bars in Rome, but the one that generally tops the list is Hotel Forum, because in addition to overlooking the entire city it is directly above the Forum and across from the Colosseum. You are not just seeing rooftops, but also all of the antiquities. I haven't eaten there, and it doesn't have a good reputation for food, but it's considered one of the best places to have a rooftop drink in Rome, because you are right on top of the historic center.

Senato also has a great rooftop, check it out.

Here are three restaurants you can eat at within a 10 minute walk radius from that hotel and not fall into a tourist trap:

Armando al Pantheon
Roscioli
Cucina e Cantina

The first two require reservations, the last one is more casual but still good

I am looking for a place to stay in Rome for four nights. Two adults and two kids (10 and 8 year old)

Day 1: We will fly in FCO and take an airport bus to downtown. I took a bus from Termini station to FCO last year and it was very convenient. We are okay with walking up to half mile (800m) with bags.
Day 2 and 3: City Tour
Day 4: We are planning to join a group tour to Pompey. The tour bus starts at SIT bus station, Via Marsala, 5, 00185 Roma RM
Day 5: Train/Bus/Airplane to Bari, Italy

Since group tour starts/ends near Termini station, I think booking a place near Termini is ideal. However, I am okay with taking a short taxi ride.

We are looking for a place with at least two beds (preferably two beds, not including a sofa-bed).

In USA, we usually book a hotel room with two double beds. I am not sure it works this way in Europe. I notice many website limits three people in one room.

We are okay with (with a kitchen or without a kitchen) But having a kitchen would be nice at the same price.
My budget is 150 EURO per night.

Thank you for your advice.

Thank you for the hotel advice and airport van service information.
I will go with Rome Shuttle Limousine.

I'd just add that Prati is a great neighborhood to live in Rome, but not so great for tourists. It's far away from everything. Trastevere used to be charming and it's still worth walking through, but it's become way to touristy. It's almost impossible to find good food there anymore. From the Pantheon you can walk almost anywhere. The price will extremely depend on the time of the year. It can vary from 60 euros a night, to 600 euros per night for the same place, depending on the season.

Yes, I am currently impacted by this. I was trying (admittedly not very hard) to figure out what the schedule was for reopening those stations and, until I read this post, I hadn't heard anything. I also read that Raggi revoked the contract of the company that is currently hired to maintain the stations; I suppose finding someone else to do this will incur an additional time penalty.

In my case, I typically travel through Spagna. It turns out that walking up to Flaminio isn't too much additional impact. But it would be much more of a problem for me if I were relying on Barberini or Repubblica. (I think that Barberini was closed yesterday, too.)

This just further highlights the importance of carefully selecting your hotel location. If you select wisely and have no mobility issues, you can just walk everywhere in the historic center.

We will be staying in Rome for our first visit the end of May. As this was somewhat of a last minute trip, it seems the inventory for hotels is limited. We currently are booked at the Otivm Hotel, but wonder if anyone on FT has any experience with the Otivm? TA reviews are good, but what does that really mean?

Thanks in advance for any information you can shed on this topic!

Can't say anything about the hotel (haven't stayed there) but I lived ~50 metres away on Bottegue Oscure for a few months about 5 years ago: a very convenient location for all purposes...

Hi Pollydill, welcome to FlyerTalk!

Like KLouis, I haven't stayed here but I agree that the location is good. For my purposes, I like this location better than the Pantheon area because its closer to the places I love to visit most.

And I too get suspicious of TripAdvisor reviews, but doing a google search for this hotel I see its listings on Booking . com, Expedia, Kayak, etc, and all those show extremely positive review aggregates.

I've come to use Booking . com reviews a lot. I first select all the languages, then do various sorts (the first one I do is a sort by lowest rating), and I use google translate for the languages I don't speak. I'm assuming that reviews left there are only made by verified guests - vs what's left on TripAdvisor. Looking at the Otivm's worse reviews I was impressed with the manager's responses.

For me, comparing the Otivm to the Albergo, I like that the Otivm is newer, I think it opened in 2017? And as said, the location is good.

But for a trip of mine, I'd also be comparing the room type and rate between each, and I'd go for the best deal. You don't mention these, so hard to weigh in.

Last note for others reading this, note that there are two similarly named hotels in Rome. The Otivm, which we are now discussing, is located near Piazza Venezia, on Via d'Aracoeli. The other one, called the Otium is in Prati, north of the Vatican, on Via Fornovo.

Good luck with your planning!

Lucky you KLouis! Sounds like a glorious place to live. I am happy to know the hotel is in a nice and convenient area.

JBD, I looked at booking.com as well--I like your idea of translating other languages. I will try that. It concerns me when the reviews are only from one country's perspective. Thank you for that tip and for providing more information about the hotel,
I have booked the Albergo also(with ability to cancel), but as you say, it is really close to the Pantheon/crowds. The rate is pretty much the same between the hotels--around $1200 (give or take a little) for 3 nights/standard room/breakfast.


Again, thank you both for responding. I have just recently been a FT lurker--so much good info.

I am choosing between the Portrait Roma and the Aleph Rome. Which is in a better pick?