I recently went on a trip to Rome, my first trip in fact to Italy, I love culture and history so this city was a must on my list. Oh and it's the year of the 'I' - the year in which I visit countries beginning with I, so far I've been, Ireland, Iceland and now Italy.

Location
*********

The Clarin Hotel is a 2 star hotel situated in Via Palermo, a street central to the city centre although on the Eastern side, and approximately a 5 minute walk from Termini Station and a 10-12 minute walk to the Coliseum and many other attractions.

I would recommend getting the train from the airport (either of them) to Termini Station as the hotel is 2 roads away from the station, and as long as your case has wheels or bag isn't heavy you'll be fine walking it.

How, where and why to book
********************************

I ended up booking the Clarin Hotel via the intermediary Lastminute.com and I don't know how much they charge in commission but I still found it reasonably priced.

I have been on city breaks before where we have skimped on spending loads on a hotel in the centre and ended up suffering and having to wait for buses/trams/taxi's to take us in and out. Which ends up costing a bomb.

So I decided this trip we would pay the money and stay in the centre or walking distance to it to avoid being stuck 20 minutes out and not being in the thick of it, all over a few quid.

My main criteria was price and location, in that order. I am not a snob but would not stay in a hostel, just because I couldn't, I wouldn't feel comfortable. The Clarin Hotel was on a number of hotel booking sites and looked reasonable even for a 2 star hotel.

Price
*******

The price was £111 for 3 nights' accommodation, in a double room, with breakfast. The price was for the room not each. At £37 a night, we couldn't knock it. So I booked it through lastminute.com (in future I will definitely check out the website direct and preferably book direct).

The hotel
***********

When we arrived in our transfer to the hotel, we were confused to see a Clarin Hotel sign by the front door, saying the hotel was on the 2nd floor. I have never come across this before, where a hotel didn't consist of the whole building but it was fine, we entered, walked up 2 flights of stairs (there is an old wooden lift but it looked scary - but it wasn't too bad as we later found out).

On the second floor there was a glass door both to the right and left so we could see in, the sign for the hotel was on the right, so in we walked, to the left is a lounge/luggage waiting area with a TV, straight in front is a small restaurant with tables and chairs, and to the right was a corridor and a reception desk, with a lovely old Italian guy sitting behind.

We presented the guy with our lastminute.com pre-paid hotel voucher and he proceeded to check us in, and give us our key, Room 124, follow the corridor round to the right and it was the first room. We were told breakfast was between 7-9am (not that we were planning on making it) and that if the main door downstairs was shut to buzz up and we'd be let in at any time, someone was behind reception 24 hours a day.

Our room
***********

We then went off to find out room. We opened the door to our room and found it was a basic but clean room, and not overly large.

The room contained a wardrobe and a desk with a chair. It also had a fan (lucky cause I didn't even think about air conditioning - which there was none, in the traditional a/c unit in the room kind of way). There was also a double bed with two bedside tables. The room was square with an alcove where the very large window was, it had large shutters and curtains that sectioned it off from the room. The large window was a great feature, I like natural light.

The room was quite light and although the furniture was dark wood the walls and bed sheets/curtains were light, pastel coloured pinks and yellows. Not my choice of colours but it was ok.

There was a door that lead to the bathroom, which was tiny, it was a thin long room that had a toilet to the right a sink straight in front and a shower to the left. I am relatively small at 5'2 and petit and even I found it hard to shower without knocking my elbows on the walls, I honestly don't know how my other half managed it being 6'1 and of a larger frame than myself.

The bathroom was clean although the shower was rather old and the water came out a bit all over the place, but it was perfectly useful and had a good water pressure (always important in a shower).

In the bathroom was, 2 shower caps, 2 bars of soap (mini ones) and 2 shampoo sashays.

On the bed was a sheet and an over through, which I ended up under because the fan did get quite cold through the night. We also had one pillow each, they weren't the most plump but good enough. The bed itself was comfortable although not a large double.

The hotel was mainly quiet although one evening I could hear the neighbours chatting away well in to the early hours but that was because I had the window wide open. Not the fault of the hotel.

Our room was also on the inside of the building facing a courtyard type thing rather than the road. But I don't think I would have minded being on the either side as the hotel in on a pretty quiet road in a quiet area.

The breakfast was typical continental, with coffee and tea available as well as juices, cereals, toast and croissants. The staff would be there to serve and were very friendly and helpful, although we did only make breakfast once (I'm not a morning girl).

The staff were excellent always helping and being very friendly, on our last night the old Italian guy suggested a restaurant down the same road, and openly told us his friend owned it, and said it was good, and to mention the Clarin Hotel.

We went to Pasta Love (the recommended hotel) and had the best, most authentic, and cheapest meal (without mentioning the hotel) and it was the by far the most enjoyable meal of the holiday. We stupidly ate at the Hard Rock Cafe (real Italian experience I know).

On the day we left, we were told we could leave our bags in the lounge area, there is no cupboard or anything and these could have been taken, although there is someone behind reception 24 hours a day. But it felt safe, we left our cases and they were fine, this was from 9am-1pm.

Overall
********

I would totally recommend a weekend to Rome to anyone who is interested, I would also say this hotel is not 5 star, top notch quality, but it is clean, a good location, it is reasonably priced and the owners/workers are great.

To look at the hotel or book direct their website is: www.clarinhotel.com