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"For the budget-minded traveler!"
Hotel delle Muse is located outside the center of the hustle-bustle of Rome. It is in a quiet neighborhood and a delightful find! The main attractions of Rome are only 10-20 minutes away by bus, metro, or taxi. Convenient internet access, outside cafe on site, and breakfast buffet. The entire staff made us feel welcome and comfortable. We are already looking forward to a return trip!
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"Perfect Family Run Hotel"
My husband and I haved stayed at this hotel twice, first in the heatwave of July 2003, and again in Easter 2005, both for 6 days. Hotel delle Muse was highly recommended by other Canadian travellers who have stayed there many times. This is the perfect little family run hotel you always hope you will find in Europe: sincere and helpful staff, spotless rooms, generous breakfast with great variety, quiet and safe neighbourhood, close to transit, and excellent rates which can be improved upon by booking directly and paying cash. What a pleasure it was to leave the heat and bustle of downtown Rome and return to the delle Muse! Our second trip to Rome in the Spring allowed for pleasant walks through the parks to the Spanish Steps and beyond. We stayed late downtown once after going to the opera and took a taxi back which was a reasonable 9 Euros, otherwise we always took public transit. The Lazar family is always available to give advice and directions. We chose the same large double and were very happy and will return!
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"A delightful Stay"
I stayed at this delightful hotel towards the end of November in 2006. Although this is considered off season in Italy, the hotel was busy with guest arriving and departing regularly. Specifically, I noticed that the hotel had many Italian guests which I found particularly telling of their popularity among locals. The staff was very helpful and patient from beginning to end. Unlike many Italian locals who may have a tendancy for impatience, and even dislike for americans, I found the staff pleasant and down to earth. The room was spacious and simple, clean and bright. Any request I made for blankets or towels was answered within minutes regardless of the time of night. The rates are very reasonable. Although many people may complain about the slight distance from the center, I found it delightful to have the peace and quite. A bus is found regularly up the block, and there are always taxi's. I would suggest looking where you walk on the streets of rome as dog owners don't clean up after themselves in public. The dining staff was very professional and attentive. The breakfast is decent, although the eggs are a bit watery, but there is variety. The only improvement I would suggest is the breakfast, lunch and dinner. Perhaps it is just my own taste, coming from New York, but my own experience was that the main dishes need some life and zest, but a great bargain with unlimited veggies and salads which was fresh and delicious. I found that the tap water was just as clean as the bottled water, so I drank both throughout my stay. My last night was refunded because I stayed with a friend, without any problems whatsoever, unlike other hotels which would only refund a portion (i cancelled last minute). Lastly, there is 24 hour free internet access which was very helpful.
A great hotel.
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"splendid budget hotel"
Hotel Delle Muse was a wonderful base for us on our 12 night stay in Rome at the end of April and the start of May 2006. We paid in the low 90's euro for a mini double, taking advantage of a 5% cash discount and a 5% internet discount to get it that low.
In trying to find a hotel for the time less than a week after Easter through mayday, about a month before our trip we pretty well hit a wall. Virtually everything was booked or quite expensive. The place we had stayed at and liked in the fall a couple years earlier (Hotel Parlamento) was, due to season, both more expensive and unavailable. We poured over trip advisor, the web, and virtually every guidebook published on Rome in the USA. We considered strange plans like camping or staying in the hotel where one had to give up one's room during the day for train workers. We considered neighborhoods we really didn't want to stay in, said goodbye to the humble dream of an in room bathroom, and then, at our darkest hour, we found Delle Muse. It seemed too good to be true. We emailed. They emailed back! They had a room. We confirmed by phone (having to call back when one of the English speakers was there). We had our small double with bathroom en suite for fewer than 100 euros. Huzzah! Literally we walked around for a couple days wondering if we really did have the room until we forced ourselves to knock it off. Good thing too, because everything they told us at Hotel Delle Muse was entirely reliable.
Reading ahead of time enough positive things about Hotel Delle Muse left us with only one serious concern about it: location. I’ll try thus to go into a bit of detail about that. Where is this Parioli District where lies the Hotel Delle Muse? Well, look in your guidebook map of Rome. Hmm, it probably cuts off somewhere in the middle of the villa Borghese (that big park). Some books don't cut off until we're just a teensy bit north of there. How nice! We’ve sort of just barely made it to Parioli. We really need to go a bit north and east now to get to our beloved hotel. So what does this mean? Just how far out are we? It all depends on you. Don’t much like being on your feet? I can't recommend Rome for you at all. Want to see the best art in the world and drink the best coffee and eat the greatest pizza, but not a great walker? well, get over it as much as you can, employ what public transportation you can (I like the tram best- a mile walk, take it towards the Vatican and get off just before it turns to head over the river. this puts you out just beyond Piazza del Popolo, the north edge of the central city, the heart of Rome, most of the best stuff. There's also a bus quite near the hotel that goes to Termini and beyond, and there's a moderate walk (a mile or less?) to a train station (Aqua Acetosa?) that seems to not come all that often and goes to, oh, forgive me, I think that train station just north of Popolo).
But enough of this. Here are my estimates (very rough) and suggestions for you walkers of cities like myself and my dear wife. You want to get to the park- the Villa Borghese- as your way to the city. I am guessing two miles to that. It is a pleasant, interesting walk through an urban neighborhood of tall apartment sort of buildings. No sights here, but interesting and Rome. At the park begins paradise. Dragon statues, Romans leisuring, pond with rowboats, possible greatest museum on face of planet (Borghese Museum-reservations mandatory) and so on. Our trips between the Hotel and the City Center started out very long and rather confusing and then just got better and better. This is what helped; finally getting a decent map, namely the free one at the hotel, finding the fabulous short cuts (sorry, can’t explain much here, but subway tunnels at mid park can take you right on out to the Spanish steps, or stay up high and take the sort of large pedestrian bridge out to the stunning views over Popolo and the Spanish Steps (and to nice ways down to them)), plus of course, we got stronger! I think maybe 3 miles from Delle Muse to the Spanish Steps or Popolo if you get the best possible route, at once long and not so long.
So, about location, on the negative side, well, it is connected, but also set apart. Going home or leaving was always a trip. We were by nature of location less night people as we did not want to come home too late. The park closes apparently (though we never got caught out) and while ways around it are entirely feasible they are longer. We never felt unsafe quite, but it can be pretty desolate walking home at 11 or midnight. Transit definitely shuts or slows down on the earlier side and overall we did not so much manage to use it much for getting home. On the plus side Parioli is nice. The center of Rome is very very intense. It is our favorite city in the world, but I could not imagine going in the summer and in the spring the crowds were, well, sometimes too much. It was nice to go to our genteel neighborhood that was not so intense, to get away from the noise and people. Having a reason for walking through that park most days was lovely. A few blocks from the hotel was a little pizza by the pound kind of stand on Eleanora Duse. It is called Pippos and it turns out I have a white hot passion for it, finding it as good in its own way as Da Baffetto in the central city. Actually we did as well with restaurants there in Parioli as anywhere. I enjoyed both Celestina and La Maremma (?) which are nearly across the street from each other on V.D. Parioli and are sit down pizza and other thing places.
So, about the Hotel, I liked its size, big enough to be anonymous and not so personal, but small enough that one could know the staff and, well, this is contradictory, but, be personal. We never ate in its restaurant, though it has one (same place you eat breakfast). I can only say it did not look particularly bad or good. It is a mildly pretty hotel. The staff was very professional and nice, my wife especially liked them and we brought the evening gentleman who was friendly about our rudimentary attempts to say the number of our room, a little plant. We made much use of a little safe deposit box behind the desk. There are internet computers for guest use in the lobby. This is handy for making yet another reservation to go to the Borghese Museum. Our room was small ala Europe budget, but well laid out as it was not retrofitted like the other places we have stayed. The high ceilings helped the feel of the room. The room was clean enough- we’re both pretty easily grossed out- it wasn’t perfect at all, but it was clean and comfortable with a good bed (I suddenly cant remember but think it was a king!). The windows are great, you’ll see, and I don’t mean the view, though it is a nice backyard kind of view. Very small shower, bidet, toilet, good sink, table with chair in room, closet. There appeared to be air conditioning in the room-don’t know if it was extra- we never used it nor would have. Included breakfast is the sort of mixed bag that is diverse enough that you should be able to put together something to suit you if you’re a bit adaptable. You have to ask the waitresses/maids to get you a cappuccino (or due cappuccini) and they will and it will be good. Pretty good croissants and nice tomatoes! Where did they get those tomatoes? Though there weren’t really enough of them. The staff and hotel as a business was polite and fair and reliable. Guests when we were there were mainly European, lots of Italians, but that seemed true everywhere in Rome. Most staff did not speak English, but some did. Based on the rest of the city it was an extremely good bargain, though I cannot speak for the larger rooms.
In conclusion, I would say, if you’re not rich or horrified at the location or physically impaired, stay here. I recommend it highly.
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24 Hour Check-In 
Banquet 
Bar 
Bicycle Storage 
Currency Exchange 
Elevator / Lift 
Internet Access 
Laundry Service 
Lounge 
Baby Cot 
Cable / Satellite Television 
Television 
Writing Desk 
Gallery
Museum
Popular Area
Shopping Area
Theatre
Train Station
Park
Airport
