Wonderful location...safe, fun, quiet as it's just off the Spanish Steps. Was a small room, clean, nice clean small bathroom, and room had air conditionning (extra cost of 6E/day). The staff was nice enough but if you have troubles you may not like their attitude as I witnessed an argument with a customer who (for whatever the reasons were, somehting about the wrong types of beds) was refusing to pay for the remaining nights and wanted to leave while the front desk said "go ahead, we have your credit card information and we'll just charge you". Although we had no problems, the hotel's customer service could use some help but as we learned this is typical behaviour in Rome...not a friendly city. The only complaint we'd have is that the walls are think so we'd hear people come going up and down the halls. Other than being a bit noisy that way, all was good. Stayed early Sept 2006.

We stayed in the hotel Panda 8-11 Sep (4 nights). Overall I would highly recommend this hotel.

The location is fantastic, we did not need to use any public transport as all the main sights were within a 30 min walk (many, like the Spanish steps obviously, much nearer!) The area also has the advantage of feeling very safe, due to upmarket shops and the number of people around in the evenings. Via Del Croce (road on which the hotel is) and other neighouring streets are very lively, with lots of people sitting outside cafes etc. In terms of prices, clearly this is not best area for bargains, but our 2 chocolate croissants and 2 coffees in the street next to ours cost us under 7 dollars.

The hotel itself is quite basic, ie no TVs in the rooms or communal areas. However our room had all it needed, everything was spotlessly clean. Also we had an ensuite double room and our was actually quite big, so much so that there was an extra single bed in there. Looking at photos posted by others it looks like room sizes are hugely variable, so may be worth requesting that room- can't remember number but it's the one right next to reception.

I do agree that the shower cubicle is very small, so if you are significantly overweight or tall you will struggle. However the water pressure and hot water were great. We did not need to use the aircon as the room stayed cool despite it being hot during the day.

As a final note I would advise bringing ear plugs - Via Del Croce is mostly pedestrian but due to all the people outside it gets noisy especially on Fri and Sat nights. However with ear plugs in this was fine and I would imagine it would be as least as bad in most other central streets of Rome as they would have more cars and scooters going down them.

I did a LOT of research before booking this hotel so I know that it is more than fairly priced and I would definitely recommend it and stay there again.

The train from Florence to Rome was supposed to leave at 12:25. We stood in the train station trying to figure out what track it was leaving from but apparently our train was delayed somewhere along the line. Finally our track number appeared on the large display we were watching. We ran to the platform and boarded. We finally pulled out of the station at 1:10pm. The trip to Rome is about two and a half hours. We sat with an older couple who appeared to be American. They were not very friendly.

It was another warm beautiful day (Milton said "hot"). I love warm weather. Milton describes his first impression of Rome as "people moving at a frantic pace." We got of the train in the station and watched for the big orange letter "M" for Metro. We found our way but there was no kiosk to buy tickets as there had been in London and Paris. There were machines but we were too tired to figure those out. In Rome you can buy your tickets at tobacco shops. We found one nearby and got a three day pass.

We were going to the Spagna stop which is adjacent to the Spanish Steps. We walked out of the station and the "steps" were about a hundred steps to the right and we could see throngs of people gathered there. We were looking for V. Della Croce, which was where our pensione would be located.

We found it pretty easily as it is only about a block from the Spanish Steps. The cobblestone streets here are also filled with people as they had been in Florence. Occasionally a scooter, motorcycle or car tries to squeeze by but Rome is another city in which a tourist should not try to drive. It would be crazy for an American to try to drive in ANY of the cities we visited. There are a lot of sidewalk cafes on our street.

The shops in the Spanish Steps area are upscale. All the famous designer's have shops here like Gucci and Prada. It is like the Rodeo Drive of Rome. We find the doorway for Pensione Panda that opens to the street at 35 V. Della Croce. Our double room there will be about $126.00/night which seems like a pretty good deal for such a great location.

But first you have to climb a flight of stairs to the second floor of the building to find the Pensione and there is another door there. It appears there might be another pensione and some apartments located in the same building as had been the case in Florence. Once entering our room, you had to put the key card into a slot to turn on the electricity. Without the card in the slot there was no power.

Then we had to climb a spiral staircase to our room which seemed to be in what was probably an attic at one time. The room they have given us is actually a triple. There is a king size bed with two nightstands and then another single bed. The ceilings are open beam and slant down from about 16' over the king size bet to about 5'6" over where the single bed is and since we are both 6'4", we keep bumping our heads when we go to that side of the room. The floors are tile.

We notice there is no t.v. and it feels pretty warm in the room. It appears there is an air conditioner but we can't figure out how to turn it on. Finally I go down the front desk to ask and am told that the air conditioning costs an extra 6 euro/night. We gladly pay that as the room is still a great deal. The air conditioning is set up so that it goes off automatically if you open the window (we should have that at home since we often realize we have the air conditioning on when a window is open and just wasting energy).

You have to step down to get to the bathroom and the ceiling there is probably 6'. Neither of us can actually stand up straight in the bathroom. We notice the room has a bidet. This is the first bidet we have seen and are not really sure how it is used and so we never do use it.

One thing that is different here is that the towels are extremely thin, cirsp and white. They are more like tablecloth material than towel material- i.e. they are NOT terrycloth.

There is no counter space on which to put anything around the sink but we have a great little toiletry set that has a little hanger. That was a good investment as many place we stay have no counter space and the toiletry set pretty much holds everything we need.

Outside the bathroom is a tiny closet with a depth of about a foot. The shower is tiny again with folding glass doors but there does seem to be plenty of hot water.

Be very careful about eating near the Panda or in the Spanish Steps area. We sat down for a small continental breakfast on the street outside the Panda without checking prices first. We each ordered a cup of coffee, a small O.J. and a couple of croissants each and it came to over $40.00! Rome is pricey but this was ridiculous!

This was our first experience in Rome and we relied heavily on reviews on this and other websites. Most are accurate. The hotel is quite a climb to reception but our room was clean and comfortable. Shower was very tiny and if you are a person of any girth, find somewhere else because you'll never get into it. Honestly, the opening was no more that 18-20 inches and the entire stall is not more than 30 inches square. I'm short and average size and I had to step in sideways.
We didn't need air conditioning because the weather was so nice but some smokers showed up in the room next to us and sat on the balcony puffing so we had to close the windows or have our whole room polluted.
The room was very basic - no TV, no clocks, towels were what we refer to as tea towels and no hairdryer.
The hotel overall felt safe and friendly and the location can't be beat. We would likely stay here again.