Serendipity

Hotel Description

Look, I’ll be straight with you about Serendipity – it’s one of those places that grows on you. When I first walked up to Viale Castro Pretorio, I wasn’t exactly blown away by the exterior, but honestly? That ended up being part of its charm. This isn’t some flashy tourist trap trying to impress you with marble lobbies and gold fixtures. It’s a solid 3-star that actually feels like Rome.

The location is what really makes this place work. You’re in Nomentano, which I know sounds like nowhere if you’re not familiar with Rome, but trust me on this – it’s actually brilliant. You’ve got the Castro Pretorio Metro station literally around the corner (and I mean literally, not travel-website literally), so you can be at the Colosseum in maybe 15 minutes without dealing with the chaos of staying right in the thick of things. The neighborhood has this great mix of actual Romans going about their lives and enough cafés and restaurants that you won’t feel stranded. There’s this little bakery about two blocks down that does these incredible cornetti – I mean, you’ll smell the butter and yeast from the street at around 7 AM, which is either amazing or annoying depending on how you feel about early morning carb temptation.

What surprised me most was how quiet it gets at night, especially considering you’re still very much in the city. The rooms facing the courtyard are definitely the way to go if you’re a light sleeper – I learned this the hard way on my first night facing the street. The staff genuinely seems to care about getting things right, which you don’t always find at this price point. When the air conditioning was acting up (this was in July, so not ideal), they moved me to another room within an hour, no drama, no forms to fill out. The rooms themselves are… well, they’re not going to win any design awards, but they’re clean, the beds are actually comfortable, and the bathrooms have decent water pressure. Sometimes that’s all you need, you know?

I keep coming back to the neighborhood thing because it really makes a difference. You’ve got locals doing their grocery shopping at the market on Via Nomentana, kids playing football in the little park nearby, and this sense that you’re experiencing Rome rather than just visiting it. The 7.7 rating feels about right – it’s not perfect, but it delivers on what matters. If you’re the type who needs a pool and room service, this probably isn’t your place. But if you want somewhere comfortable and authentic where you can actually afford to eat out at those amazing Roman restaurants with the money you saved on accommodation, then yeah, Serendipity might just live up to its name.

Rooms

• Estimated price from: $65. Double or Twin Room – Annex with 1 large double bed and 2 single beds for Max persons: 2
• Estimated price from: $70. Double Room with 1 large double bed and 2 single beds for Max persons: 2
• Estimated price from: $63. Large Single Room with 1 single bed for Max persons: 1

Reviews

• Great value would definitely return – Oscar from United Kingdom – 26 June 2025 (9/10)

  Good location and friendly staff
  
  What could be improved: WiFi wasn’t great but not a big deal

• Stayed for the location – Jasmine from United States – 21 June 2025 (8/10)

  Perfect location close to terminal station
  
  What could be improved: Thin walls where you can hear people going in and out. Thin pillows. Need to have at least 2 per person.

• Good stay – Kristel from United Kingdom – 5 April 2025 (8/10)

  Lovely room, comfortable beds and extremely clean. A lot of attractions were within 30mins-1 hour walking distance but the metro station was 5min walk. Staff were helpful.

• Overall it was a great experience! – Claudia from Portugal – 27 November 2024 (9/10)

  The location was excellent, very near Roma Termini.
  The staff was very nice and let us leave our bags during the day, after the check-out, which made our lives a lot easier.
  The facilities were excellent, very clean (I spent one night here and I've seen people cleaning and making adjustments at least two different times), pretty and in good conditions.
  
  What could be improved: It can be a little tricky understanding which button to press to open the door when you arrive, but after de check-in and the keys is very easy.

• Superb – Avi from Laos – 4 October 2024 (9/10)

  Staff

• Superb – Agnieszka from United Kingdom – 11 September 2024 (9/10)

  Very good location , it is close to town centre as also to termini station. Many good and cheap restaurants around it .

• Nice stay! – Esper from Estonia – 30 June 2024 (9/10)

  Great location. Everything was exactly as was promised: nice balcony, late check-in, comfortable bed, nicely renovated room.

• Superb – Boukriba from Netherlands – 21 May 2024 (9/10)

  We were pleasantly surprised, the room was very clean, The location was very good as well, near to the central station (10 min walking distance). I highly recommend.

• Superb – William from Ireland – 24 June 2023 (9/10)

  Great location. 700m from Roma main Train station and 200m from a metro station. Very clean. They cleaned the room and changed towels every day. Last, all furniture and mattress are new
  
  What could be improved: Positive experience and good value for money

• Comfortable stay with great location – Betina from Brazil – 6 September 2022 (8/10)

  Location is really nice and the balcony was a plus for us. Close to bus stops which is really great for moving around the city and going to the main touristic points. Private bathroom and comfortable beds are advantages when compared to hostels.
  
  What could be improved: The reception was hard to locate inside the building and needed help to find it. The shower drain clogged and the water stopped going down, but that was solvable by removing the little filter it had to let the water flow, that can be unpleasant but it's no big trouble. The price was quite high but that's probably the Rome average price you'll find.

SURROUNDINGS

Facilities