Piccolo Hotel Boutique

Renata, the owner, was very helpful and went out of her way to take care of some errands for us. It’s a bed and breakfast made from a large apartment rather than really being a hotel. The rooms are tiny, but very clean, with hotel-level amenities and everything needed, including a nicely stocked mini-fridge.

The good parts are that all the amenities are there, the staff respond quickly on WhatsApp, and the location is convenient for being near the Vatican while staying in a nice residential neighborhood. But this is an apartment with rooms turned into tiny “hotel” rooms, not really a hotel and definitely not a “boutique” one. The walls are paper thin and it faces a noisy street. They noisily prepare a breakfast wagon at 5am, yet charge city tax at the level of a high-end B&B.

The location is awful, with smelly streets, and the owner was unprofessional. We waited an hour to check in despite requesting it in advance. I booked one single bed and one large double bed for two of us, but got a small room instead of the deluxe double bed room I had booked. One of the worst rooms I’ve ever stayed in. Don’t trust the online reviews, save your money and book a good hotel.

The owner was very friendly, but make sure you confirm arrangements before you arrive. They need to let you into the building and hand over the keys, and they don’t live on site. It’s very clean, in a good location, with a decent breakfast, and could suit budget travel, but check the room size first to see if it works for you. This is a bed and breakfast rather than a hotel, with 5 small (Piccolo) rooms made inside a ground-floor apartment. Our room and bathroom were tiny, and I could barely walk around the bed. There’s no noise insulation between rooms, and road noise will wake you around 6am unless you wear earplugs.