The ReidsGuides.com Hotel Guide to Rome, Italy

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SUPER-CHEAP (under €50 / $70)

Papa Germano
The impressively friendly and hyper-helpful Gino believes that being a host involves more than just providing beds. Most small hotels suffer from a drafty, dreary feel, but Papa Germano is perhaps the most comfortable, cozy hotel in its category. It takes a powerful mix of double-glazed windows, bright lighting, and richly patterned fabrics and futon chairs and adds modern climate control, amenities such as TV and hairdryer, and a relaxing lounge with Internet stations. With such incredibly low rates—double rooms without private baths cost €50 (€65 with bath), triples from €60 (€80 with bath), and a spot in a shared room of three or four beds (real beds, not bunks) runs €20 per person—Papa Germano books up early.
Via Calatafimi 14a (four blocks north of Stazione Termini, on a dead-end street off Via Volturno)
Tel. 06-486-919.
www.hotelpapagermano.com

Fawlty Towers
Early flight? Try crashing around the corner from Termini at this easygoing hotel that emanates that youthful, friendly, Backpackers-of-the-World-Unite hostel ambience—but without the dismal dorm atmosphere or party-hard agenda. Rooms are functionally basic, but the mattresses are new. About half the accommodations are private (€47 single without bath, €55 with; €65 double without bathroom, €70 with). The other half are shared, hostel-style‚but with only four cots each—costing €20 for the rooms that share baths down the hall, €23 for a room with a private bathroom attached. The (generally) young guests hang out in the TV room, solarium (microwave, fridge, Internet station), and flower-filled terrace, trading travel tips and often heading out as a group for pizza or a pub crawl.
Via Magenta 39 (a block north of Termini, between Via Milazzo and Via Marghera)
Tel. 06-445-0374
www.fawltytowers.org

Colors
The folks who founded (but no longer run) Fawlty Towers now operate this fifth-floor walk-up near Vatican City (along with an excellent local travel agent/tour company called Enjoy Rome, www.enjoyrome.com). The simple, spacious rooms are vibrant in a supersaturated, whimsical, accident-at-the-Crayola-factory way. Only one room is shared dorm-style, and the largely young backpacking clientele tend to be of a more reserved, mature stripe. The washer/dryer cost less than a Laundromat. You can put the communal kitchen and small shared terrace to good use since the hotel's located just a few hundred yards from some of the best food shopping in Rome—indoor and outdoor markets a few blocks north, plus on Via Cola di Rienzo two renowned grocers: Franchi (the top spot in Rome for fresh calzoni around 5pm) and Castroni (unique boutique grocery store). They also rent an apartment near Termini.
Via Boezio 31 (two blocks south of Via Coal di Rienzo, at the corner with Via Terenzio—which changes named to Via Fabio Massimo starting one block north)
Tel. 06-687-4030
www.colorshotel.com

Village Flaminio
This single campground is well outside the centro storico but near to my heart, as I lived in it (in a hippie-orange pop-top VW campervan) for two months when I was 12 years old and my family was between apartments. It boats 80,000 square meters of camping, and 90 self-catering bungalows for rent. It’s actually located in the Parco Regionale Vejo, so there's plenty of greenery to go around, but it's a haul from the city center. Take Metro A to "Flaminio," and transfer to the Linea Prima Porta train and get off at "Due Ponti." Longer but more direct: take bus 910 from termini to the end of the line (Piazza Mancini), then bus 200 right to the campground.
Via Flaminia Nuova 821 (well north of the center)
Tel. 06-333-2604
www.villageflaminio.com

CHEAP (€50–€100 / $70–$140)

Hotel Marcus
The Marcus is handily one of Rome's best upper-end budget hotels—a smartly updated pensione in an 18th-century palazzo with high ceilings and the odd marble fireplace (in larger, slightly pricier rooms) to give it character. It's that perfect inexpensive hotel that focuses on the important things: Salvatore and his wife are friendly as can be, the beds are new and firm, the bathrooms are decent, and there is the occasional touch of class, such as Art Deco lights, Persian rugs on patterned tile floors or the odd antique furnishing. It’s particularly well fitted to welcome small families, as the larger rooms have futon chairs that can sleep a third person.
Via del Clementino 94 (the (renamed) final block of Via Fontanella Borghese before you get to Piazza Nicosia, just south of Augustus's Mausoleum)
Tel. 06-6830-0320
www.marcushotel.com
Rates & Availabliity

Hotel Fenicia
A gem of a hotel amid a slew of budget dives, offering one-star prices for three-star comfort—including TV and A/C (which costs a bit extra to turn on). Spanking new modular units and firm beds rest on modern parquet floors surrounded by matching fabrics. The bathrooms are (for Rome) remarkably spacious. The hotel is spread across three, elevatorless floors: the first (standard rooms), second (classiest digs), and fourth (older, and generally smaller, rooms—except nos. 18 and 20, which are big and newly refurbished and have tiny balconies). Most cheap hotels yell at you for doing laundry in the sink; the Fenicia provides retractable clotheslines in the baths.
Via Milazzo 20 (two blocks north of Termini rail station)
Tel 06-490-342.
www.hotelfenicia.it
Rates & Availability

Hotel Des Artistes
Paintings and prints brighten this frugal haven near Termini train station. Some of the large rooms can sleep up to six--perfect for families. The beds are orthopedically sound and the arte povera furnishings are among the nicest I've seen. Rooms with stylish private baths come with A/C (bathless ones get a fan). The entire hotel—including the TV/chess/Internet terminal lounge—is non-smoking save the sunny roof terrace, where you can breakfast in summer.
Via Villafranca 20 (five blocks north of Termini train station)
Tel. 06-445-4365.
www.hoteldesartistes.com
Rates & Availability

Fraterna Domus
If you don't mind monastic simplicity, tiny bathrooms with curtainless showers, and a decor that begins and ends with the small Crucifix nailed above the bed, this hospice just north of Piazza Navona run by a lay sisterhood may be the ticket. The beds are firm, the tile floors kept next-to-godliness clean, and the price heavenly. The bad news: there's an 11pm curfew (but one sister confided to me that they might slip you a front door key if you stay for a week). They also offer excellent full, family-style dinners for a paltry €13 in the basement's communal dining room.
Via Monte Brianzo 62 (a block off the Tiber River, just north of Piazza Navona)
Tel. 06-6880-2727
[This hotel does not have a Web site; call for prices and reservations]

Casa Kolbe
The Kolbe seems a world away from the craziness of the city, on a quiet, forgotten side street lost between the Tiber River and the ancient Roman Forum. In fact, the back entrance to the Forum is just a few hundred feet away—cool, huh? The Kolbe exudes that somber quiet that only a former monastery can muster, but it's comfy enough. The built-in units are austere, with heavenly orthopedic beds sporting blankets in the most hideous shades of brown and yellow the 1960s had to offer. Those rooms that don't open onto the peaceful courtyard's palms and orange trees look instead across a little-trafficked street onto a romantically overgrown, semi-excavated portion of the ancient Palatine Hill.
Via San Teodoro 44
Tel. 06-679-4974
[This hotel does not have a Web site; call for prices and reservations]

Pensione Panda
For the best balance of comfort, style, and insanely low prices in the very heart of Rome, the Panda wins hands-down. The owner likes to describe the rooms as "quaintly spartan"—few frills or amenities, but plenty of old-fashioned character and the sort of attractive furnishings found at pricier inns. The washboard-vaulted ceilings are frescoed (second floor) or trimmed in stuccoes (first floor) over terrazzo flooring, wrought-iron wall sconces, and firm new bedsprings. Even rooms without private bath have sinks surrounded by antiqued stone tiles. All that and it's just two fashionista-teeming blocks from the Spanish Steps amid Rome's toniest shops. You can often get a 10% discount if you pay in cash.
Via della Croce 35 (two blocks west of Piazza di Spagna)
Tel. 06-678-0179
www.hotelpanda.it

Mimosa
The Mimosa has a golden location between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. It's a family-run hotel that was somehow been overlooked by Rome's tourism machine, happily continuing to offer simple but sizeable, clean, and comfy simple rooms at often laughably low rates (though they can spike from €75 to €138, so be sure to ask when booking). It's all agreeably threadbare but well cared for, and most rooms are pretty big by Rome standards, with multiple beds ideal for families on a budget. Most rooms are simple but efficient, though largish rooms no. 1–3 were redone in 2002 with some quirky touches--wrought iron or brass bedsteads, sinuous mirrors, Oriental rugs, giant ceiling beams, or brilliant blue curtains. No credit cards.
Via Santa Chiara 61 (halfway between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona)
Tel. 06-6880-1753
www.hotelmimosa.net

MODERATE (€100–€150 / $140–$210)

Hotel Coronet
Cheapskates with expensive tastes take note: you can live literally like a Renaissance prince in one wing of the 15th-century Palazzo Doria Pamphilj (in another wing reside a number of Raphaels, Caravaggios, and other masterpieces in a museum displaying the Doria Pamhilj's princely collection, and in yet another wind resides the noble family itself). Simona Teresi and her son preside over the baronially sized rooms with high ceilings, tall windows, and modest, sometimes worn, yet comfy mismatched furnishings and antiques. Rooms 34, 35, and huge 45 boast wood ceilings and sitting corners with sofas. The pocket-sized piazza out front isn't terribly noisy, but for greater quiet ask for a garden-view room. Each room without an ensuite bathroom has a private bath down the hall.
Piazza Grazioli 5 (just off the northwest corner of Piazza Venezia)
Tel. 06-679-2341
www.hotelcoronet.com
Rates & Availability

Hotel Aventino
The Aventine Hill is an almost preternaturally quiet oasis of villas, leafy gardens, and residential blocks—tucked between the Circus Maximus, the Palatine, and the Baths of Caracalla, yet a world away from the chaos and traffic of Rome all around. Tourists rarely venture here; a shame, since its packed with several fine antique churches, some lovely city panoramas, and a few rarely visited ancient sights. The Aventine is also home to a mini hotel empire consisting of three hotels converted from 19th century villas: the Sant'Anselmo, Villa San Pio, and Hotel Aventino. The Aventino is the most downscale of the bunch, but it offers nearly as much class and style for 30 to 40 percent less the price. It's a lovely villa set in its own gardens, and the rooms have parquet or tile floors and eclectic furnishings—but still plenty of antique pieces. No. 346 has long columned balcony overlooking the road and surrounding mansions.
Via S. Domenico 10 (off Piazza G. Regina)
Tel. 06-570-057
www.aventinohotels.com
Rates & Availability

Hotel Villa San Pio
Of the three sister hotels on the Aventine (including the Aventino, above, and the Sant'Anselmo, a "pricey" choice), the San Pio is the stylish hideaway. The Villa San Pio consists of two buildings bridged by a magnolia-shaded garden and solarium. Accommodation decor varies widely, some with tasteful modular furnishings on tile floors, others kitted out in grand 19th century style, all with excellent firm beds. The choicest rooms are in the structure beyond the gardens, where especially up on the first floor you're most likely to find the best combination of reproduction furnishings, Persian rugs on hardwood floors, painted ceilings, and ultra-mod baths with Jacuzzis (or perhaps a claw-footed tub). The roof terrace has splendid tranquil views that encompass the Aventine and mountains in the distance but somehow manage to visually ignore the rest of Rome.
Via S. Melania 19 (between Via Sant'Alessio and Via Sant'Anselmo) Tel. 06-570-057
www.aventinohotels.com
Rates & Availability

Hotel Smeraldo
Until their prices started rising 10% a year, this was always the first place I called when I needed a room in Rome. You just won't find another classy joint at these prices in the very heart of Rome—three blocks from Largo Argentina, three from Campo de' Fiori. You get burnished chestnut veneers, stone-tile floors, marble sinks, and all the electronic comforts of home (satellite TV, hairdryers, even A/C). The fourth-floor patio is perfect for shady quiet (though there is some distant traffic rumble on the Via Monte della Farina side), and the rooftop terrace (fluttering with hotel sheets) offers sun and a panorama of rooftops. In 2002, they bought the crummy old Hotel Piccolo across the street, renovated it to the standards and comfort level of the Smeraldo, and renamed it In Parione. Those 16 rooms cost a skoch less than at Smeraldo, but breakfast is not included.
Vicolo dei Chiodaroli 9 (between Via Chiavari and Via Monte della Farina)
Tel. 06-687-5929
www.smeraldoroma.com
Rates & Availability

Hotel Navona
Australia-raised architect Cory Natale and his parents and sister run this great hotel just off the south end of Piazza Navona. During renovations in 2003 (private baths, antique reproduction furnishings, and plaster stucco ceiling decorations appeared in all the rooms) they discovered frescoes in two of the rooms. Want more charm? Percy Bysshe Shelley once rented the top floor as an apartment. Despite all this, prices remain modest by Roman standards. If the Navona is full, the Natales will place you in the lovely six-room Residence Zanardelli off the north end of Piazza Navona. They also rent a pair of apartments with kitchens.
Via dei Sedari 8 (off Corso del Rinascimento, between Piazza Navona and the Pantheon)
Tel. 06-686-4203 or 06-6821-1392
www.hotelnavona.com
Rates & Availability

Hotel Parlamento
The Parlamento has long offered that Holy Grail of hostelries: four-star class at two-star prices. It's sandwiched between the Corso (Rome's main drag) and Piazza San Silvestro (a major city bus terminus), but don’t be put off by the heavy street traffic. The hotel went ahead and installed double sets of double-glazed windows, which are pretty effective in dampening the noise. The staff takes it professionalism seriously. The rooms are furnished in a combo of antiques and reproductions, the firm beds backed by carved wood or wrought-iron headboards. The trompe-l'oeil'ed breakfast room is lovely, or you can carry your cappuccino to the small roof terrace with a view of San Silvestro's bell tower. Though the terrace can be shared by all guests, there is a trio of rooms that open right onto it; they have Jacuzzi tubs and cost a bit extra.
Via delle Convertite 5 (at the intersection with Via del Corso, near Piazza San Silvestro)
Tel. 06-6992-1000
www.hotelparlamento.it
Rates & Availability

Sole al Biscione
This is Rome's oldest hotel, and I'd swear some of the rock-hard pillows, sway-backed cots, and peeling wall linoleum date back to the day it opened in 1462. But, really, that's the only downside--and that's by far not typical of all the rooms. Many rooms are in far better shape, with nicely-tooled, old-fashioned wood furnishings, and you get to pick your size: none are miniscule, but you can always trade up to a larger room for a bit more cash (and it has to be cash; credit cards are not accepted). The windows are double-glazed, but that does little against the nighttime noise pollution from revelers spilling out of the bar-lined piazza at the end of the street (this joint is across the street and up the block a bit from the Hotel Campo de' Fiori); I'd request a room overlooking the garden courtyard. Fourth-floor rooms cost a bit more because they drink in a rooftop view featuring a few Baroque church domes and a sea of TV aerials.
Via del Biscione 76 (half a block north of Campo de' Fiori)
Tel 06-6880-6873
www.solealbiscione.it
Rates & Availability

PRICEY (€150–€250 / $210–$350)

Albergo Abruzzi
I miss the old days, when this was a student crash pad with giant, creaky rooms and ridiculously low rates that just so happened to have the best view in Rome: you could open your bedroom window and practically poke the Pantheon with a stick. The view's still there, of course (from all rooms save a few singles; best from the large corner doubles with windows on two walls), but the Abruzzi has renovated itself into three-star status--A/C, TV, minibars, the works--and more than doubled its prices. Ah, well. That's progress for you. At least they did install double-glazed windows, which helps keep out the dark side to that killer view: the considerable pedestrian noise that rises late into the night from this popular piazza.
Piazza della Rotonda 69
Tel. 06-9784-1351 or 06-679-2021
www.hotelabruzzi.it
Rates & Availability

Nardizzi Americana
Nicola and Fabrizio have transformed their hotel into one of the best two-stars in town while keeping the rates way down. The style is inspired by ancient Rome, with a patterned tile decor giving an inlaid-stone look to the public-area floors, and a narrow terrace (open in nice weather, enclosed in winter) where you take breakfast. The rooms now have richly patterned curtains and bedspreads—a few even boast wood-beam ceilings—and new bathrooms. Although the smaller rooms were given built-in dressers, the larger ones got walk-in closets. Several are triples and quads large enough for families. One drawback: There’s no double-glazing on the old-style windows, so for quiet, avoid rooms on the heavily trafficked Via XX Settembre side.
Via Firenze 38 (Next to the Defense Ministry, just of Via XX Settembre, about two blocks down from of Largo S. Susanna)
Tel. 06-488-0035
www.hotelnardizzi.it
Rates & Availability

Hotel Sant'Anselmo
The San Anselmo is the posh, showy centerpiece of a midget hotel empire consisting of a trio of hotels on this quietest, most residential of Rome's famous seven hills (the others are moderately-priced Villa San Pio and the Aventino, where I write a bit more about the neighborhood). Of the three, the San Anselmo has more consistently classy accommodations (though the best rooms at the friendlier San Pio definately outshine). The public salons and halls are fitted with Oriental rugs, chandeliers, embroidered drapes, and other acoutrements of the 18th and 19th centuries. The bedrooms feature antiques or reproductions, embroidered headboards, rich wall fabrics, modernized baths, firm beds, and marble panel or stone tile floors. Third floor accommodations also have air-conditioning.
Piazza Sant'Anselmo 2 (where Via S. Domenico and Via S. Anselmo end at Via Porta Lavernale)
Tel. 06-570-057
www.aventinohotels.com
Rates & Availability

Hotel Campo de' Fiori
The location is primo: just off Campo de' Fiori (though that has become quite the nightspot, so it can stay noisy late; request a room off the front), but your opinion of how great a hotel it is depends largely on which room you snag. Don't be afraid to ask to see several rooms, as some are blandly modern and carpeted while others sport brick arches and rustic wood-beam ceilings. Most are big enough, but there are a few cramped quarters barely big enough to fit the bed. I'm partial to room 602 for its views across the domes and rooftops of Rome. No worries: everyone can enjoy the panorama from a communal roof terrace. The owners also rent ten apartments in the beighborhood—all with kitchens and some with TVs but no phones—for longer stays and up to seven people.
Via del Biscione 6 (just off the northeast corner of Campo de' Fiori)
Tel. 06-687-4886
www.hotelcampodefiori.com
Rates & Availability

SPLURGE (OVER €250 / $350)

Hotel Raphael
Even from the outside, you know this place will be special: an ivy-covered palazzo snuggled into the tangle of medieval, lightly-trafficked streets just off elegant Piazza Navona. The Raphael makes for an excellent plush choice, with well-appointed contemporary bedrooms and a terrific view from the roof terrace. It has amenities and facilities galore (including a fitness room), but be warned: a few of the rooms are quite small. Other rooms, on the other hand, have columns dividing them into multiple rooms like your own private Roman flat.
Largo Febo 2 (just off the northwest corner of Piazza Navona)
Tel. 06-682-831
www.raphaelhotel.com
Rates & Availability

Grand Hotel de la Minerve
The Minerva (the French and Italian spellings seem to be used interchangeably at this venerable hotel) has a killer location right on Piazza della Minerva, just off the southeast of the Pantheon. This five-star porperty overlooks the tiny square where Bernini's playful sculpture of a baby elephant balancing an obelisk on its back sits in front of the deceptively nondescript facade of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (a highly underrated Roman church, with works by Michelangelo and Filippo Lippi inside). And hey: we haven't even peeking inside the hotel yet, where the large rooms are fitted out with elegant modern furnishings, sometimes under ancient wood-bead ceilings.
Piazza della Minerva 69 (off the Southeast corner of the Pantheon, just east of Piazza Navona)
Tel. 06-695-201
www.grandhoteldelaminerve.it
Rates & Availability

Hotel Art by The Spanish Steps
Attention fashion forward travelers: the post-modern boutique hotel has arrived in the heart of ancient Rome—and what better place than the art gallery–filled Via Margutta, a quiet alley just a few yards from the poshest shopping streets around the Spanish Steps? The columns and vaulted ceilings of the entrance lobby speak of Italy, but it's strewn with George Jetson table and chair sets and space age pods containing the reception desks. In the rooms, organically angular wooden furnishings and tall minimalist lines give is a hint of Asian flair while lamps hanging from curling silver twigs, plush beddings, hardwood parquet floors, and avant-garde chairs and sofas show off contemporary Italian design. This funky joint is definitely not everybody's cup of cappuccino, but if you dig whimsical, futuristic design and elegant appointments and want to stay in the heart of the action, the Hotel Art is a memorable choice.
Via Margutta 56 (an alley parallel to Via del Babuino, the street leading from Piazza del Popolo to the Spanish Steps)
Tel. 06-328-711
www.hotelart.it
Rates & Availability

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