I am currently traveling through Italy and I have a few things to say about Rome. First, my travel guide (not Lets Go) told me to check out the Hotels around Termini. This area was packed with all kinds of Hotels and I stayed at two of them. I will spare you the names but I do need to say that the two I tried both overcharged me and both were seedy, dirty and trashy places. So I decided to look outside of the Termini area and I went over to a hostel around the Vatican...I am going to reccommend this one because it was everything the two places at Termini were not. They spoke English, it was clean, it was cheap and in a nice residential area. It was called Hostel Ottaviano...I booked on thier web site

www.pensioneottaviano.com

and I saw that they also had another place near the Collosseum

www.sandyhostel.com

So basically...stay away from the touristy areas and try these two.
Hope you enjoy your trip to Italy as much as I am...all the best.

Aaron

here is a short list of hostels in Rome:
 
* Fawlty Towers
(+39) 06-445-0374,info@fawltytowers.org , Fawlty Towers Website

* The Beehive
(+39) 064470 4553, info@the-beehive.com, [URL=http://www.the-beehive.com/home.html ]The Beehive Website[/URL]  

(both the above are very good!)

M&J's Place (+39) 06-446-2802, Website

Ostello Foro Italico, (39) 06-323-6267, Website

Pensione Ottaviano, (39) 06-397-38138, Website

In Rome, for an excellent guided tour of St Peters & The Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel, try:

Rome Revealed:Tel: +39 06 32 47 41 / +39 349 7403269, web: Website

Enjoy Rome: Tel: ++39 06 4451843 (or ++39 06 4450734); web: [URL=http://www.enjoyrome.com/main.html ]Website[/URL]

happy trails

Philip

'Just land the damn thing'

Buzz Aldrin to Neil Armstrong, July 1969

i often stay at the hotels round stazione termini on my way to & from 'mezzogiorno'(the beautiful south!)
and whilst none of them aren't palaces i've never had any complaints regarding hygene or prices: average capital city tariffs. all speak english should you so wish. stayed in much worse. however the italians have saying that the victim is as guilty of being robbed as the thief is of robbing him. there is a handy hostel located past the bus station.