Where to stay in Rome?

I went with a friend and we stayed in an hotel near the main railway station. It was safe at night to pop to the local restaurants and near to the bus stop for the tourist bus. It's worth taking this to get your bearings and you can get on and off as you wish. If you are going I assume you know what you want to visit (personally I find it noisy and grubby). There are so many more beautiful places in Italy and the train system is great. You might want to try airbnb to find a short stay in an apartment.

Unless you have a good guide to take you around, Rome is daunting...very busy and absolutely full of hawkers and worse, especially at the main sites. I am glad we went to the Vatican and the Coliseum, but we had an excellent local guide who knew all the short cuts, if you are on your own you can spend half a day in a queue - and that's just to buy the ticket!
I'd recommended Florence any day....a lot smaller, more intimate and very walker friendly whereas Rome is spread out and requires a lot of planning to get the best of.

Buy 'skip-the-line tickets' online!

we stayed here and it was lovely Could see the Pantheon from our window.

All seemed perfectly safe to us. We wandered around after dark, no problem. All cities are at their best at night.

I want to go again.

We love Rome, and have had several short breaks there. stay as central as you can, we take taxis which are cheap, and the hotel will call one for you and say where you want to go( not many Italians speak English). or you can walk back( after taking a taxi to wherever you want to go.) it's a marvellous city, just enjoy strolling around, people watching, and stop for a coffee, remember to take a map wherever you go. it always feels safe ( to us) even at night time. the Vatican Museum is a must, however long it takes to queue,
Also the colisseum, and the forum, where you can just wander around at your own leisure. St. Peters of course, and nearly all churches are worth a look.The Trevi Fountain ( 3 coins in the fountain, film) and the Spanish Steps.Lots of nice and resonably priced places to eat. take a small Italian phrase book with you, in case you get stuck and need something.Lastly, have a great time and take lots of photos!