La Maison Royale

The best part of our stay was the fantastic breakfast each morning, with a beautiful view of the dome at St. Peter's. The serving staff we dealt with most, Veronica and Francesco, were great, and I was really impressed by them. The room faced the street, so we could see the dome from the window. The beds were comfortable and clean, though the room was a bit cold, but we're Canadian, lol. There was no phone or TV, so not many amenities, but that was fine since we only used the room to sleep. It's a beautiful old building with a cool old elevator running up the middle of the stairwell, about 100 feet from the front door to the hotel Atlante. One desk clerk seemed extremely helpful and friendly, while the other wasn't so much, as other reviews have mentioned. I don't know their names, so I can't say which was which. We stayed with our young daughter the first week of December. The location is about a five-minute walk from the Basilica (St. Peter Square), the Vatican Museum, and Castel Sant'Angelo; Trevi Fountain is about a 30-minute walk. If you're coming from North America, use the jet lag: we were out from 4-6:00 in the morning and saw half a dozen outdoor attractions at twilight with literally nobody around. St. Peter's was empty, and we took photos at Trevi Fountain with no one else in view. Breakfast even came with really good fresh cappuccino on request. I'd recommend this B&B based on our experience with Veronica and Francesco alone.

I was initially impressed by the booking because the website promotes the Hotel, but this turned out to be a very basic room on the third floor of a block of flats, not the hotel itself. It's two buildings along from Hotel Atlante, and the room is a double converted from what is basically a three-bedroom flat. If you book breakfast, you have to leave the flat to eat at the hotel's restaurant. Searching for La Maison on Google takes you to the Hotel, which is the wrong location. It could work if you want a cheap option near the Vatican and don't mind walking between buildings for breakfast, but the room really needs modernising.

The rooftop restaurant garden was even better than the hotel itself, with a beautiful view that makes you want to sit and linger over breakfast. The hotel room was on the third floor and had a lovely view too. It's in a nice location near the Vatican. Great hotel.

The rooms are outdated, and the shower wasn't working.