Your link to tripadvisor.com was an excellent one. I hope that my original post was clear in that I had not stayed at the Hotel Marcus, but had read about it several times as one of the affordable hotels in the vicinity of the Pantheon. I like the idea of this website's rants and raves section; it is like the Zine in that you get to hear folks' personal opinions and experiences. Opinions are just that, though: I looked up the rants and raves for a hotel that I am familiar with, having stayed there. In my opinion, it's the best location in Rome; in the opinion of one of the ranters the location was horrible! But the reports of people not getting their deposits back at the Marcus are troubling. I am crossing it off my list. It was only on my list because I had read about it several times, and knew the location and price suited Pam's needs.

I noticed that Flavio, who lives in Rome and knows it much better than I do, mentioned that he knew some good inexpensive hotels. I really can't say the same thing, but I am just basing this on the experience of four trips to Rome, which hardly qualifies me to make too sweeping generalizations, but, to me, Rome is an expensive hotel city, and one really does pay for a central location. I might add that I always want a room with an ensuite bath, toilet and sink, and we also really like to have a television; these things are pretty essential to me when travelling, although others might not find them important at all, especially the television. In walking distance of the Pantheon, finding a room like that for under 100 USD might be a miracle. I haven't been able to do it!

I am always looking for a good affordable hotel in Rome, with a central location, and so I am following this thread eagerly. I like the Pantheon area, because my favorite cafe, bakery and food shop are all on the via della Scrofa.

Wishing I was in Rome, but alas, I'm just Debbie in Pittsburgh