Pantheon Inn

The rooftop terrace has a nice view, the breakfast was good, and the staff there were friendly. The location near the Pantheon also made it easy to see Rome’s sights. Those were the bright spots, though. There were no real amenities, and the property’s look and feel struck me as 1-star. The listing photos made room #226 look luxurious, but it wasn’t, and it was probably about 150 square feet. The front desk said Rome law, supposedly because of “global warming,” meant air conditioning wasn’t allowed. I researched that and found it totally untrue. There was little ventilation, and we were hot and had trouble sleeping. There was no signage when we arrived at the huge black doors, which reminded me of a dungeon. We had no directions for finding check-in and had to ask someone walking by. They spoke Italian, so it was confusing. Our room was on the 2nd floor, which is really the 3rd floor if you count the ground floor as the 1st. That meant 55 steps up, and 111 to the roof terrace. There is a very small elevator, but I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone who struggles with stairs.

The central location made it much easier to manage Rome with our 1-year-old son. We could walk to all the main attractions, even with our limited schedule. The room was also spotless and neatly set up each time we came back, despite the inevitable toddler mess. Housekeeping deserves real credit for that. But the noise made it impossible to rest. We were in room 223 beside a staff storage room, and both mornings we were woken before 6:00 AM, around 5:50. We were whispering “shh, shh” to try to keep our baby asleep. We heard doors, things being moved, and every movement from next door. The first morning we woke with a start, thinking someone might be in our room. Our son could have slept longer, but kept being woken. It’s one of the worst experiences like this we’ve had, whether you’re traveling with a child or just trying to enjoy a vacation. The beds looked elegant with their wooden headboards, but were metal and probably foldable, and one was unstable and squeaked whenever we moved. Booking presents this as a 4-star hotel, so we expected something quite different. The location and cleanliness were good, but the noise and poor beds made our two-night stay very disappointing.

Breakfast had plenty of variety and was really nice, and the dining room staff were lovely too. The building is a unique space with a range of rooms. Ours was okay, nothing special, and there was no AC. Even in mid-November we had to leave the window open. A ceiling fan would have helped move the air around.

Bring earplugs if you stay here, because sound carries badly between rooms and you’ll need quiet neighbors. The rooms are fairly basic, but have what you need to be comfortable. The old building and its individually styled rooms add charm, and there’s a lovely rooftop terrace. Breakfast was great, especially the pastries, and the staff were incredibly helpful and friendly. The location is incredible too, about 2 minutes from the Pantheon, right in central Rome.