Princeps Boutique Hotel — Hotel in Rome

I selected Princeps based on cross-referencing TripAdvisor, Google, and Booking.com reviews.||There were many positives to the stay, including the staff who were very pleasant and helpful. The breakfast was really good, too, with a wide variety of pastries, cereal, yogurt, fruit, meats and cheeses, eggs, bacon, etc. During our visit, the coffee machine’s latte module wasn’t working, so cappuccinos and other milk drinks weren’t an option. Fortunately, there was steamed milk in a pitcher next to the equipment. ||The location is great, for its proximity to many attractions and restaurants. However, there is a lot of street noise, but things quieted down later at night. Earplugs are helpful.||The pillows, bedding, and towels were of good quality and the AC worked really well. We had plenty of outlets for electronics charging (but no USB ports). ||Guests newly arriving should be aware that to access the hotel, you press a call button, and there is a small door within a larger door frame. You then go to an elevator to the 4th level where the hotel is located. ||Now for the not so great things.||Princeps is not like any other “boutique” hotel I’ve stayed in. For the price we paid per night, the room we had was very small. The queen bed takes up most of the space. Kudos to the website photographer for making it appear bigger. But the worst part is that the walls are very thin. If you don’t mind neighbors hearing everything, no problem! But there was practically no sound separation and we could hear our neighbors’ entire conversations. Fortunately for us, the next door guests were not partiers and went to sleep at a decent hour. ||The bathroom was tiny, too, with very little storage for toiletries. And with poor soundproofing, toilet time was not so private. Plus the door to the bathroom was very close to the bed. Awkward. Two of us were provided just one small tube of combo shower gel/shampoo, and we wondered where all the other products shown on the website photos were. ||There isn’t a lounge area in the small lobby, rather just two small cushioned benches. ||I’m sad to say I was disappointed in the room, and wouldn’t select Princeps again based on the cost vs size and lack of...

This hotel was so wonderful to stay in in Rome. It’s super near the station and I was only there for one night so it was very handy.

The staff are lovely. They’re so friendly and helpful and are available 24/7 to help out. They had such a nice comforting vibe and were always keen to offer coffee, water, and bathroom facilities even after I had checked out. I could store my suitcase easily when I went to meet my friends too.

The room was absolutely perfect for a solo traveller. The bed in the single occupancy rooms is just a bit bigger than a single bed so it was perfect for getting a good night’s sleep after a long day exploring the city.

The room even had a little balcony, kettle, tea, hairdryer, and plenty extra blankets. On that point, the aircon was working and the room was very comfortable to sleep in on an April night in the city.

The only slight negative was the shower was one of those ones that you had to adjust the temperature a few times as it had a tendency to run back to cold. But I never raised this with the staff as I was still able to have a nice shower, so that was maybe something they could have fixed if I had brought it up. But it was a proper nice shower cubicle with a waterfall shower so other than the temp, lovely facilities.

Also have no complaints about the breakfast. They had pastries, fruit, fruit juices, cold meats and cheeses, and cooked eggs and bacon. As well as the usual bread rolls and bread for toast.

I really got so lucky finding this hotel as I only found it because my friends had booked the very last room at their hotel so I needed to find one nearby. I’m very glad I did find it and very grateful to the staff for taking such...

This is a tastefully designed hotel with well appointed rooms, many of which look onto the piazza and the impressive Santa Maria Maggiore church. Wifi and aircon worked perfectly and the breakfast spread is pleasing.

The surrounding area can be a bit borderline, but it’s walking distance to the train station as well as Monti, which has a lot to offer in terms of food and nightlife.

The only major issue with this hotel is the misleading descriptions of the rooms. I required a suite to accommodate two adults sleeping separately. I wrote to the hotel to confirm that the suites contained separate bedrooms and living areas (with sofa beds). They confirmed, and so I booked. So I was very surprised when it turns out the “suite” is literally a single room with a sofa next to the bed. I complained as this is neither what I had been told when booking nor the commonly understood meaning of the word "suite." The desk attendant was apologetic but said there was nothing to be done and that there were no other available rooms. They made no effort to compensate me for this major error on their part, which is a sign of very poor service. It was really too bad as the hotel is otherwise very nice.

Some small additional cons: it can take several minutes for the elevator to come. Also, the hotel is on one floor of a building home to many other businesses. So, the sign outside is tiny. It took us several minutes to identify which of the buildings in the piazza it actually was. And management should consider using dispensers rather than a lot of single use plastic...