Has anyone heard of or stayed at Residenza Belli (http://www.residenzabelli.com) in Trastevere in Rome? From some booking websites, it seems to be a 2* B&B with a decent location and price. However, it’s a new B&B that opened doors in 2005 and hence I have found only 1 review on it in the Internet. I emailed the hotel for some information and never heard back. Also, I called them a few times during Italian business hours but nobody picked up the phone.

Is it a safe hotel? I think at least the reception and some rooms are on the ground floor. Not sure if all rooms are.

Also, are the walls paper thin?

Can guests store their bags at the B&B after they check-out? Is the luggage room safe?

I find it funny that the phone is not picked up and my emails are not returned. I hope it’s not a fake hotel or a hotel with irresponsive / irresponsible managers.

From reading different forums, I found that there was a B&B called Guest House Belli near the Colosseo. It had a bad reputation and was closed down. The same address is now occupied by another B&B under new ownership and management (Arena Guest House—or something like that.) I wonder if Residenza Belli has anything to do with any of these.

I no nothing of the Resdenza Belli but I'm not comfortable with the lack of pictures of rooms on their web site.

The location seems OK... It's behind the Ministry of Public Instruction offices and on Bus Line 115 and near the No. 8 Tram Line. I waited a long time for bus 115 about a block from their address one rainy morning last October and was not concerned about the neighborhood.

http://en.venere.com/town_house_suites_rome/trastevere/...l?action=user_rating

is a page of 10 reviews on Venere.com. I take it as a good sign that they are listed on Venere.com but I would rather see some written comments on the reviews and find it odd that there are none in 10 reviews.

There are many pictures of the rooms here:

Click on the Virtual Tour and the Photo Gallery.

http://www.residenzabellirome.com/guest-house-photo-gallery.php

What I wondered about the place is that it says it has 24-hour reception, which is fairly unusual with such a small establishment. Perhaps the owner lives on site, but I'd like more details.

Reviews here are positive:
http://www.bookings.nl/hotel/it/residenza-belli.html?la...40855a30a7a62fe3a637

Can anyone give more details about the merits of this location?

The area where this hotel is situated is really quite a hike from everything central. You would most likely be taking public transportation to and from the hotel if you are going to the city center daily. Might not be any kind of problem at all but for us we like to be right in the city center. This past October we stayed in Trastevere near the Prte Portese Flea Market in a lovely hotel and kept thinking, "If only we could take this hotel and plock in right down in the middle of Piazza Navona!...Boy, THEN we'd be happy!" We spent LOTS of time trucking back and forth from the hotel to the center and waiting long amounts of time for busses.

Also, I notice that they describe themselves as "not strictly speakin a youth hostel (we are better!!)" and since I've never stayed at a hostel I can't comment on that. But having stayed in our share of "brand new hotels" during our travel lifetime together, being open just this year means that quite possibly all the bugs have yet to be ironed out and might make for some discomfort in ways one can't even imagine.

All in all, if it were me I'd keep looking for another place unless you're budget really can't support a more central, seasoned hotel.

I see that the residenzabelli.com site just refers to 2005 rates, while www.residenzabellirome.com is more complete, for the same place. For stays in Rome, I'm usually looking for someplace convenient to a station on the FM1 line to/from the airport; even if this isn't quite walking distance with luggage from Trastevere station, it's a possibility.

Just returned from a stay at Hotel Ripa in trastevere. We walked about a block to get to tram #8 - which within minutes can get to to Piazza Navona. Bus #3will take you to Piramide Metro station. So, even if it is not in the center of the city, it is very easy to get around

I found two more reviews of Residenza Belli here:
http://www.hostelsclub.com/hostel-en-2698.html

Thank you so much for all your replies. I chose the neighborhood of Trastevere because of many forum members described it as the "Greenwich Village" of Rome. When I stayed in NY, I always tried to avoid excessively touristy/commercial areas such as Time Sq.

Also, there are not many affordable hotels in Centro Storico and Trastevere that provide in-room internet (which is my husband's requirement). Other than Residenza Belli, the next choices are 160+E per night. (There are a few places with reasonable prices and good location/reviews--yet they are fully booked.) Would appreciate any recommendations! Thanks!

Doggielover, no doubt you saw the review above from September 2005 that the in-room Internet was not working while the reviewer stayed there. Good luck getting in touch with someone. Please let us know if you do and where you end up staying.

I seem to recall some places around the Colosseum that were hostel-like but had free Internet access, and also private rooms. Sorry I can't be more specific. Perhaps check out the hostelworld.com site.

The internet service is also a high requirement (in fact a necessity) for us as well when we travel. However, I can't tell you how many times and in almost ALL hotels we've stayed in that their internet service was "down"....and stayed down for the duration of our stay! So, we have decided not to count on the hotel of our choice having internet service. It's now become a joke when we check in and see the sign stating, "Internet Service down". The wonderful thing is that there are internet cafe's at your disposal in many, many areas of Rome. We used the one down the block from our hotel last October and it was great....of course, not as private as being in your own room but it did the trick. And, unless you plan on doing extensive writing you can basically do everything else you need to do. We paid our bills, checked and responded to eMails, communicated with my 16-year old regularly, responded to business acquaintances and handled our banking needs all from the Internet Cafe.

If you are staying in Rome for a week, why not check out renting an apartment? Usually you can find one that is less expensive than a hotel and in the neighborhood of your choice. Granted, you still may not have internet service there as well but don't forget those terrific Internet Cafe's!

There is an internet cafe in Trastevere, just across from the tram stop. It came in handy in an emergency. Being partially computer illiterate/as well as Italian-non-lingual made for an interesting exchange. Paying by the minute is not a substitute for in room access! An apartment may be a good idea.

Doggielover, I can't help but be very interested in this place, because if it's as good as purported, I'd want to stay here. So I investigated some more.

On the TripAdvisor forums, the poster David_Stevens several times talks up both Residenza Belli and Hotel Teatropace (a guesthouse near Piazza Navona). According to David, Residenza Belli is run by Vincenzo and Barbera, who previously mentioned the guesthouse near the Colosseum that you mentioned at first.

Someone named David McKie, who has the company Fisheyes Ltd., appears to have done the network registration for both residenzabellirome.com and hotelteatropace.com . Fisheyes is mentioned on both web sites as the web designer, and I think it's also related to the virtual technology by which you can take a tour of the rooms.

My guess is that Residenza Belli and Hotel Teatropace have some sort of link, although the latter is obviously rather more expensive and centrally located. I'd look at the reviews for both when considering either place. I feel pretty confident that Residenza Belli is a real B&B (not that that was really in doubt), but I'm unsure if it has full service (Teatropace does not).

I don't mean to cast aspersions on this place, and again I'd be happy to stay there based on what I know so far, but given it's a new place with no visible history, I'm just trying to fill in as much as I can.

Bugalu, is that Internet cafe by the tram stop still open? I seem to recall a closure, but I'm not positive it was that one in Trastevere.

Hello,

Why don't you try a B&B. They are less expensive and some offer PCs with Internet connection. http://www.arenahouse.com/
This one has PCs and Internet in each room, and is located 50-100 m from Colosseum entrance. It has many good reviews on www.tripadvisor.com.

The Arena House is apparently the old Guest House Belli, which is also apparently related to the above two places.

hello,
have you checked the reviews on slow travel for B&B's in rome? i don't necessarily mean for the B&B you've listed, but just in general.

there are plenty of reviews which reflect positive experiences. i just think this knowledge would help a traveler make a safe choice instead of searching for information about an unknown place. it certainly makes the process a lot easier and quicker.

just a thought!

Hello,

I'm in Rome, wishing Slow Travel a happy birthday, and looking forward to a GTG this evening.

I had tentative plans to stay with friends in Rome, but they had damage to their apartment and it became advisable for me to stay somewhere else, and I checked the Residenza Belli. They showed availability, I gave a credit card guarantee, and sent an e-mail confirmation June 3. I was glaad to have availability in a small place on relatively short notice. On June 10, I'd adjusted to European time while at home and went to e-mail at 3 a.m. Midwest time. There was an e-mail from the Belli repeating the information I'd given but saying "Booking cancellation" at the top. I sent an e-mail asking them to explain this, and took off for London. There was no reply during the weekend, and I e-mailed asking a friend in Rome for whom it was a local phone call to call and find out if I had a reservation. First, around 8 a.m., she got the cleaning lady who couldn't say anything (so much for the 24-hour reception). Then she called a couple of hours later and got a regular worker who refused to look at their book or take my name. I sent another e-mail mentioning my prominence on Internet discussion groups, and finally got a reply saying the reservation was cancelled, no reason given. I h ad not posted my plans to stay there on this or any other online discussion; sometimes I worry about pranksters calling and cancelling in my name. So, I was hoping to report on this as a place to stay, but I can't, that's my report on reserving through their site.

My mother had been in Rome earlier, and when she heard of this she reserved a room for me at the Convento di Buon Soccorso off Piazza Barberini, so it was there to give me the "good Rescue" promised in the name. Getting a little off topic, I had a full day Monday in London and didn't check e-mail, thinking I'd be getting an answer one way or another. I was on a day trip to Oxford when I checked and found it not fully resolved, and getting past this shot a lot of my day in Oxford. I arrived at Fiumicino, took quick pictures of the arrivals area cafés for the site as meeting places. Now, after all my statements against taking the Leonardo Express to Termini, I thought I would do this and take a taxi. The ATAC Rome transit site says to take the FM1 to Tuscolana, then the metro, but I thought I wouldn't take the metro during evening rush hour. If the FM1 was first, I would take it to Ostiense, then a taxi. But the Termini train was first, and I just made it, I had the risk of buying and validating the ticket and missing the train. So, these are other complications coming from the Belli's treatment, but then I was cheated on the cab, and I'll make that another topic.

Andrew, thanks for the report. Sounds rather risky to rely on. A TripAdvisor review also mentioned there was no 24-hour reception, and one would-be stayer was not able to get into the place because no one showed up to let him in for their prearranged late arrival.

Is the Convento di Buon Soccorso another convent you can stay at in Rome? I don't recall hearing of it before, but that sounds like a good location.

quote:

Originally posted by WillTravel:
Bugalu, is that Internet cafe by the tram stop still open? I seem to recall a closure, but I'm not positive it was that one in Trastevere.

Will Tarvel I have used the internet point on Viale Trastevere several times most recently on May 10 2006. It is near Piazza Belli right next to a theater.

Well, sorry to hear what happened to Andrew. I cancelled my reservation at Residenza Belli in advance because of some comments posted in other discussion boards. Finally, I stayed at City's House B&B (booked at romeby.com), which is 1.5 blocks away from the Pantheon, for 140 E per night. The location cannot be beaten but certain other things could be improved. I realized that Rome is an expensive city and thus I could not complain much (I only booked two months in advance).

quote:

Is the Convento di Buon Soccorso another convent you can stay at in Rome? I don't recall hearing of it before, but that sounds like a good location.

Yes, you might find Buonsoccorso listed as one word. The address is via degli Artisti 38, tel. 06 488 5259. For single occupancy, even though there are more beds, the rates were €35 without bath, €50 with.

Have you taken a look at Best B&B? My husband & I stayed there in May.

http://en.venere.com/bed_and_breakfasts_rome/vatikan/be...st_best_vatican.html

It was very nice and very reasonable. Its in the Vatican district, but we walked to the historic area without difficulty, and we're not young anymore. The neighborhood was very nice, quiet, and there was a metro stop just a couple of blocks from the front door. The guy who owns it, Rudolpho was very professional and helpful. He has a little office area with a desk and couch off the hallway- its only a few rooms, and there is a computer with an internet connection that is available to guests 24/7. The office is open even at night so that you can use it.

Venere shows it at about 100E a night. This includes the best breakfast we ate in two trips to Italy. The rooms have a bistro table and a couple of chairs, and breakfast is brought to you in the room for whatever time you request the night before. The room is spotless, and the bathroom was very modern and clean.

He has a new Best B&B in the Pantheon district that he was very excited about, although I would think its probably more expensive because of the location.

Hello Doggielover...I too am a dog lover...having a wonderful Doberman Pinscher named Maximillian. Aftr i read your post I thought perhaps if you preferrd staying in Trastevere you could look at Hotel Trastevere. We stayed there for 2 weeks in 2005 and loved everything about it...a double cost us @ 100E a night and breakfast included. If you decide to stay there and they have rooms ask for a room facing the "inner courtyard" which actually is more like an alley which provides ABSOLUTE quiet and is accessed through a door next to the hotel..the rooms there start with C and then a number. The hotel is very close to Tram 8 and a tourist info booth. Also a very nice internet cafe nearby which we used regularly. If you have any questions please let me know.
Best regards,
Richard from Indiana