When I was planning our trip to Italy, this is the first hotel we booked. I was looking for a small family style hotel located in an area that was close to a lot of attractions. The Hotel Nerva claimed to be located right by Trajan's Market and appeared to be a small boutique type hotel so we booked it for my husband, daughter and I.
When they said they were close to Trojan's Marketplace they weren't kidding. It is literally across a narrow street. Our room was facing the street with big windows that opened wide onto the street. You could literally throw a pebble and have it touch the forum.The Hotel Nerva is very small. In fact the elevator is hard pressed to fit one person and one piece of luggage but that did not bother us in the slightest. The room looked as if it had not been updated in years, yet we found it quaint and so totally in keeping with the atmosphere of Rome. While the room itself is by far the smallest room I have ever stayed in, I loved it. The atmosphere felt so Italian, so real, without all of the trappings of the big hotel chains. I would open the huge windows and just stare outside the the forum or people watch as scooters roamed the streets and locals took thier daily walks. The staff were polite, helpful, treated us like family and spoke English pretty well. Although breakfast was included in the room price we never took advantage of it so I'm unable to comment on it. They do have Internet, but the guest has to give their computer to the desk clerk who will then set the computer up on thier network.

The guest bathroom in Hotel Nerva had been recently updated and although small it was very unique looking as it was on two different levels. Opening the door into the bathroom you step up to the first level where the shower is located and another step up is where the bedet, toilet and sink are located. No matter how small you think this shower looks, it is even smaller. It was impossible to bend over to reach shampoo or shave your legs without opening the shower door. As clausterphobic as you might think it is, the fact that they even managed to put a shower in such a small area deserves recognition. Many hotel rooms in Europe do not even have bathrooms in them so I thought it was cute showering in what we dubbed as the world's smallest shower.

As you can see from this view, the vanity is very small but there was plenty of room on the deep window ledge on the left for any cosmetics or toiletries you may have. There is also ample room in the bathroom cabinet for any other extras. Plenty of towels as well as a towel warmer were offered and a hairr dryer was there for your use.

The bathroom and bedet were in spotless condition when we arrived with ample extra toilet tissue and disposable bags for our convenience. Please note that bathrooms in many of the very old hotels do not flush as well as what you may be used to. The trick is to use as little toilet paper as possible and to keep flishing the toilet until everything goes down. The toilet isn't plugged, it is just what they refer to as slow as there is not a lot of water pressure.

While the rooms may be small they are charming and offer conveniences such as a full supply of hotel emenitites such as soap, shampoo, conditioner etc. The rooms also have a mini bar that is filled daily and added to your room bill. Ammenities are replaced if they are taken or used up. Don't forget to make use of the towel warmers to warm your towels during your shower or dry off clothes soaked in the rain etc.