Hotel Des Artistes

On the via Villafranca, where it crosses the via Vicenza. The Termini station (trains for airports, underground station) is 656 ft away. The closest underground station is Castro Pretorio, two minutes away by foot.
The airport of Fiumicino is 16 mi away; and Ciampino 9 mi away. Allow for a 45 minutes trip for Fiumicino, and 30 minutes for Ciampino.

The Hotel Des Artistes offers both hotel rooms and youth hostel dormitories. As it is not far from the Termini station, it receives a lot of people: customers who are passing through who can arrive early or very late. Expect suitcase noise in the corridors at all times. As the hotel is badly soundproofed, you could have trouble sleeping if you are a light sleeper.
Accommodation advice
In order not to be too disturbed by late arrivals and morning departures, ask for a room in the hotel annexe, previously the "albergho Sandra": there are less rooms than in the main building, and therefore less noise.

Open in 1994, the Hotel Des Artistes has one five-storey building crowned with a terrace and annexe located in the building just next door. Dormitories and private rooms are in both buildings. Having gone through reception (which only serves for receiving your room key and settling your bill: there is no sitting area to linger in); the only place to relax in is the bar by the breakfast dining room (too small for the hotel's capacity), and the roof terrace when it does not rain. Fortunately, this terrace is open in all seasons (as there can be good weather at all times in Rome). It is equipped with metal tables, woven plastic armchairs, and sunshades when it is hot. You can have a drink there, and also settle down with a book and enjoy the view over the orange Roman facades, with their red-tiled roofs and green shutters. Relatively quiet, depending on the traffic in the street below (the via Villafranca).

There are 33 private rooms (apart from the dormitories) in the main hotel building, and 15 in the adjacent annexe. This accommodation is arranged in doubles, triples, and quadruples, which is good for families. Make sure that your room has a private bathroom. Actually, there is just one floor in the hotel building that has the rooms with a shared bathroom on the landing. As the private rooms in the annexe are more recent, they all have a bathroom. Whether with a shower or a bathroom, and depending on the space, a hairdryer and welcome products (22 ml) of the "Aquae" make (as with the Yes Hotel, as it belongs to the same group) are all available. As for orientation, the rooms can look over the via Villafranca, or over a backyard with coloured facades. Regarding space, you have just enough room to move around in (129 sq ft in a double room, and 215 sq ft to 269 sq ft in a triple or quadruple room). Simple furnishing, the furniture and bed head being in varnished wood, with a reproduction of a famous painting on the wall (for example, Venus at her looking-glass by Velazquez), a television, air conditioning, telephone, fridge (no mini-bar), safe (free). The biggest problem is the noise: the floor tiling and marble on the staircases amplify the slightest sound.

Breakfast is not included in the room price (unless there is a special offer), but costs only £4.40. Presented as a buffet (continental), you can eat cereal, rolls, croissants, cheese, salami, hard-boiled eggs, and fresh fruit. All this is set out in the bar area by the breakfast dining-room: you eat in this room or on the terrace (only when the weather is good, but in all seasons). As the breakfast dining-room and terrace are not very big, if all the hotel's customers descend on it at the same time, crowding is inevitable. Come preferably at the beginning of the service. The hotel does not serve meals during the daytime or in the evening. The bar can give you a drink, but you have every reason for going out into the district: the drinks are cheaper, and the setting more typical.