We, a family of 6 grown-ups, stayed at the loft for a weekend and enjoyed it a lot. The loft is beautiful, well-equipped (we had breakfast there) and about a 5-min-walk from the underground station. The bus 78 takes you directly to the Colosseum.
During the week there is a local market close-by, where you can get fresh fruits, bread, cheese...and also the supermarket is almost round the corner. Once we had dinner at La Zingarella (?), a recommendation by Sebastian, and we really enjoyed it - it is an authentic Italian restaurant with lots of locals around.