We stayed right next to Cipro last year and had a blast!
Coming from London the one thing you realise about Rome is that it's very small and extremely walkable. We went for just over a week and used the Metro only twice. From where you're staying you can set up a decent route to cover Vatican City/St. Peters Square, cross the river and head down the backstreets towards the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and then down to the Colosseum. There's tonnes of restaurants, piazzas (squares), and sights to see along the way so you can make a real day of it.
Prices are okay, Tripadvisor/yelp help out a great deal and you can find some pretty good restaurants that are pretty cheap. Cantina e Cucina being one of our favourites while out there, great food, good prices, and the customer service was second to none. After our meal they gave us tonnes of freebies too including shots and desserts.
We didn't have any issues with safety at all, and we were out at all hours. The only thing to look out for is all the people trying to sell you cheap tourist crap or roses. They're annoyingly persistent and get right up in your face but you learn how to deal with them pretty quickly.
It's an easy city to get to grips with, just walk around and you'll eventually get the hang of it. Staying in Cipro was great too cause if you ever get lost just ask for directions to Vatican City and you should be able to find your way from there. The only thing I wish i knew before I went is that some taps have no obvious way to make them run, for some reason most of them have a foot pedal or button on the floor. Oh and zebra crossings are completely backwards, you basically just go and the cars stop for you. If they spot you're foreign or you look tentative they'll just accelerate and ignore you in most cases.
