Six of the best hotels in Rome

published 19 January 2015

The aristocratic choice

Hassler Roma is the choice for "well-heeled Americans and European aristocrats", says Sunday Times Travel. The dcor is "classically classy... old-school luxe: crystal Venetian lamps, Neo-Classical mirrors, marble bathrooms". Watching the roofs of the Pantheon, St Peter's and the Forum turn from gold to rose at dusk from the seventh-floor balcony is unforgettable.

From £304 per night, room only, rising to £7,000 for the Penthouse Villa Medici (hotelhasslerroma.com).

High style away from the bustle

Villa Laetitia is a pleasant distance from the hustle and bustle of central Rome. It's in the north of the city, about a 25-minute walk from the Spanish Steps, one of Rome's tourist attractions. The villa is owned by Anna Fendi Venturini, one of five daughters of the founders of the Fendi fashion chain, so as you might expect, it's "high style", notes Sunday Times Travel. "Expect Modernist furnishings, fashion illustrations and original artworks with drawings by Karl Lagerfeld and prints of Italian actresses such as Anna Magnani."

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From £160 per night, with breakfast (villalaetitia.com).

Picturesque B&B

Buonanotte Garibaldi is an "impossibly picturesque" three-room B&B in the lively Trastevere district, says Cond Nast Traveller. Each room is decorated with the hand-painted fabrics of artist owner, Luisa Longo. The first-floor blue room opens onto a magnificent private terrace and guests can sit, shaded by a huge magnolia, in the courtyard, which is "an oasis amid the city's heat and noise".

From €180 per night, with breakfast (buonanottegaribaldi.com).

Designers' paradise

Stay at CasaCau and you can wave from your window to Italy's president, Giorgio Napolitano, says Sunday Times Travel it "butts up against Quirinal Palace", where the president lives. And the Trevi Fountain (a key setting in Federico Fellini's 1960 film La Dolce Vita) is just a few steps away. Each of the five apartments has "vintage mid-century modern interiors... architects, designers and Wallpaper magazine readers live out their Mad Men fantasies here".

From £273 per night, B&B, for a two-person apartment, or from £397 for a four-person apartment (casacau.com).

Five-star luxury

The five-star Exedra, a 238-room luxury hotel, is on top of some of Rome's most historic sites literally. Part of the hotel has a plate-glass floor through which you can see part of the excavated remains of the Baths of Diocletian, among the largest of the public baths ever built in ancient Rome. There are five bars, says Forbes magazine. If you only visit two, make sure to go to the ground floor Champagnerie Tazio, "a champagne bar worthy of Jay Gatsby", then head upstairs to enjoy the "sumptuous view" from the rooftop Terrace Posh Bar.

From €220 per night, room only (exedra-roma.boscolohotels.com).

In the heart of it

If you want to stay right at the heart of the action, Portrait Suites is the hotel for you. It's located "on the main Roman fashion drag, Via Condotti", says Cond Nast Traveller, "reducing the distance between shop and flop to zero".

The hotel has just 14 rooms in total, each with a kitchenette, and once you're inside "it's easy to forget you're in a hotel at all", But what makes it special is the guests-only roof terrace. "This decked haven, well-stocked with loungers and lanterns, is an absurdly romantic venue for an evening's tete-a-tete beneath the stars".

From €352 per night (lungarnocollection.com).

Ruth Jackson-Kirby is a freelance personal finance journalist with 17 years’ experience, writing about everything from savings and credit cards to pensions, property and pet insurance.

Ruth started her career at MoneyWeek after graduating with an MA from the University of St Andrews, and she continues to contribute regular articles to our personal finance section. After leaving MoneyWeek she went on to become deputy editor of Moneywise before becoming a freelance journalist.

Ruth writes regularly for national publications including The Sunday Times, The Times, The Mail on Sunday and Good Housekeeping among many other titles both online and offline.