Rome

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Hotels

Sixteen million tourists passed through Rome in 2005, making it one of the most-visited desti-nations on the planet. And the city is doing all it can to make its visitors comfortable, with the number of hotel beds rising from 83,000 in 2001 to 91,000 in 2005.

Where once there was little to bridge the gap between the extremely plush and the scuzzy-round-the-station, the Eternal City now offers everything from B&Bs and gorgeous guesthouses to boutique hotels and grand luxury institutions, as well as countless apartments set aside expressly for short-term stays. With the opening in May 2006 of Ferragamo’s hotel, the Italian capital caught up with other major Italian cities currently being colonised by fashion designers-turned-hoteliers.

Fierce competition has helped to drive standards up across the board, and the vast majority of hotels have had revamps and improved facilities over the past few years. But if choice and quality are on the up and up, so are prices. Rome is a more expensive place to stay than most other European capitals. Also, with the exception of nun-run hostels for visiting pilgrims, the city continues to offer slim pickings for budget travellers; unless they’re lucky enough to squeeze into exceptions such as The Beehive or Colors, cash-strapped style-seekers will find the accommodation on offer decidedly unappetising.

 

In fact, a recent explosion at the top end of the accommodation market suggests a deliberate policy on the part of city luminaries to encourage big-bucks tourism.

 

With three of these relatively new luxury pads – the Exedra, the Radisson and the long-running but totally refurbished St Regis Grand – within a stone’s throw of Termini station, this is partly attributable to ongoing attempts to spruce up the down-at-heel Esquilino district. But the trend is not limited to there: work is forging ahead on other, huge, five-star hotels next door to the Ara Pacis in the centro storico and hard by the Vatican walls.

 

Location
Despite the presence of these luxury interlopers, the vast majority of hotels in the Esquilino quarter around Termini station area are cheap pensioni – some of dubious cleanliness – swarming with budget backpackers. It is definitely worth considering looking further afield, even if it costs you a bit more: Termini is extremely well connected, in terms of transport, but it’s probably not what you dreamt of for your Roman holiday.

 

To find what you were expecting, you’ll need to take a room in the centro storico. A shower between sightseeing and dinner, and a pleasant stroll (rather than a bus) back to the hotel afterwards, can make all the difference. The area around campo de’ Fiori offers low- to medium-priced hotels with lots of character, and a central piazza that is a lively market by day and a colourful hangout for visiting students and alternative types by night.

 

The area around the Pantheon and piazza Navona is generally a bit pricier, although there are good-value places to be found. Moving distinctly up the price range, Rome’s top-end hotels have traditionally clustered around the once-chic via Veneto; though slowly undergoing a makeover, this famous street is currently more Hard Rock Café than dolce vita.

 

The Tridente, the area of designer shopping streets by the Spanish Steps, offers elegant hotels, mostly in the mid-to-upper price range.

 

If you’re looking for some peace, the Celio – just by the Colosseum – offers a break from the frantic activity of the centro storico, as does another of Rome’s seven hills: the Aventine, an exclusive residential outpost close to the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (a division of the UN that has its headquarters in Rome).

 

Heading across the river, the characteristic bar- and trattoria-packed quarter of Trastevere has recently acquired several accommodation options, after many anomalous decades when rooms simply didn’t exist in this wildly popular area.

 

Just north of Trastevere, the medieval alleys around the Vatican give on to the busy retail thoroughfares of Prati: it’s lively during the day but very hushed at night.

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