This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
Not for nothing is Rome called the Eternal City. Time loses its meaning in the Italian capital: ancient Roman remains are mixed in with Renaissance palazzos, and grand baroque squares sit alongside imposing neoclassical architecture. Presiding over it all is a skyline that undulates with church domes — including St Peter’s, designed by Michelangelo, which beckons visitors towards the Vatican. Over the past decade, the hotel scene has become as multilayered as Rome itself.
1. Mama Shelter
Best for: kitsch
These two conjoined brutalist office blocks are local landmarks in the elegant Prati neighbourhood west of the River Tiber — so much so that they even featured in Dino Risi’s seminal 1962 film Il Sorpasso. In 2021, the interiors became as striking as the facade, when the offices were replaced by the behemoth 217-room Mama Shelter. A 10-minute stroll from the Vatican — St Peter’s dome is well within sight of the rooftop bar — it’s a kitsch version of italianità (Italianness), from the lobby carpet adorned with pizzas and Roman emperors to the clashing colours and columns of the ground-floor pizzeria and the basement take on Roman baths. Rooms pair swirling carpets with Renaissance-style upholstery, such as lions rampaging through foliage, while an extra £20 or so nets you a room with a balcony. Rooms: From €166 (£142), B&B.
Clashing colours and garish swirling carpets are all part of the eccentric charm at Mama Shelter.
Photograph by Mama Shelter Roma (Top) (Left) and Photograph by Mama Shelter Roma (Bottom) (Right)
2. Palazzo Ripetta
Best for: style
Near busy Piazza del Popolo, this convent-like oasis served as a shelter for impoverished young women between 1675 and 1961. Its history is recalled through the Roman sarcophagus in the courtyard, restored by the palazzo’s 19th-century inhabitants, and the restaurant, whose walls are lined with photos of the women and the crafts they made here. Converted into a hotel in 1961 by Luigi Moretti — the ‘Italian Gaudí’ — it was upgraded into a family-owned five-star in 2022. Bright rooms feature colourful furniture and beds fitted with luxury Frette sheets, while public areas display the Crisci family’s own art collection. The vast courtyard, La Piazzetta, contains a bar as well as the top-notch Abruzzese restaurant San Baylon. Rooms: From €550 (£469), B&B.
3. Six Senses Rome
Best for: positive impact
Sustainability is engrained in the ethos at 15th-century Palazzo Salviati Cesi Mellini, near Piazza Venezia. The hotel — which opened in 2023 and was awarded LEED Gold certification for its environmentally conscious remodelling — runs on green energy, the guestrooms are clad in local travertine and the plant-heavy restaurant menu features locally sourced ingredients. Organic herbs are grown on the rooftop, where there’s a bar, and magicked into liqueurs, and part of the proceeds from every stay go towards local community projects. As for the experience, it’s as luxurious as you’d expect, from the silky Rivolta Carmignani sheets in the tranquil, wood-clad rooms to the recreated Roman baths in the basement. Rooms: From €1,000 (£857), B&B.
4. Palazzo Roma
Best for: glitz
There’s something in the air at Palazzo Roma. The 2024 transformation of a 17th-century patrician palazzo on Via del Corso, two blocks from the Trevi Fountain, has been scented by Rome’s legendary perfumier, Laura Bosetti Tonatto, who’s infused everything from the toiletries to the corridors with what smells like church incense. Up the marble staircase and beyond the frescoed restaurant is a brilliantly flamboyant hotel. The 39 plush rooms are eclectic to say the least — art deco-style lines mixed with brightly coloured walls and humbug stripes — while the public spaces are equally outré, with disembodied conductor’s hands emerging from the wall in the Music Lounge. It’s all as fun as the charming staff — no wonder it’s gone straight onto the books of the Leading Hotels of the World. Rooms: from €425 (£363), B&B.
Art-deco style lines are mixed with brightly coloured walls in the recently renovated Palazzo Roma.
Photograph by Pietro Masturzo
5. Otium
Best for: views
In the postwar years, this building was the HQ of Italy’s Communist Party. Since becoming a hotel in 2022, it’s much more geared towards capitalism, with a gold check-in desk that segues into a low-lit bar with mirrored tables. The mid-century-inspired rooms are compact but comfy. The one to book is the ‘doppia deluxe experience’, with a terrace looking towards the ancient Jewish Quarter. Otherwise, have a cocktail on the sixth-floor rooftop, with views of the Vittoriano monument dominating Piazza Venezia. Rooms: From €200 (£171), B&B.
6. Hotel L’Orologio
Best for: location
Have you got the time? You will at ‘The Watch Hotel’, which opened in 2022. The walls are covered in artwork of Rolexes, the bedside lights look like moving cogs, and handles for drawers, doors and bathroom taps are shaped like second hands. The obsession is down to the owner, who has amassed one of the world’s largest watch collections — those paintings on the walls are his prized possessions. Yet it’s surprisingly classy, as befits its location, a belle époque palazzo behind Piazza Navona in the heart of the city. Facing the Pantheon, the rooftop bar Santa serves cocktails themed by time zone. Its near 360-degree views, from St Peter’s to Piazza Venezia, make guests feel truly immersed in Rome. Rooms: From €210 (£180), B&B.
The rooftop bar at Hotel L’Orologio provides guests with 360-degree views of the city’s most iconic landmarks.
Photograph by Hotel L’Orologio Roma
7. Hotel Lancelot
Best for: atmosphere
In 1959, Canadian Helen Khan stayed in a pensione in a 1930s apartment block behind the Colosseum. She loved it so much that she eventually bought it, expanding it into a 66-room hotel and stuffing it with antiques, from art deco chairs to old prints of Rome. Helen is now 95, and her children carry on the tradition: daughter Lubna manages it, chef son Faris cooks legendary three-course dinners then sits down with guests to eat. Plump for a sixth-floor terrace room for eye-popping views of the Colosseum. Rooms: From €140 (£120), B&B.
8. Domus Libera
Best for: seclusion
Rome does a brilliant line in tiny, semi-staffed boutique properties, and this is one of the loveliest. Renaissance artist Sebastiano del Piombo is thought to have had his studio here, tucked behind Piazza Venezia on a cobbled alleyway. You might feel equally inspired by the six beautiful rooms. The style blends Philippe Starck-designed details (like a sink in the shape of an espresso cup) with original beams and gauzy drapes. The cheery staff are in during the day, and available by WhatsApp out of hours. Rooms: From €170 (£145), B&B.
9. Casa Montani
Best for: homeliness
Through the grand entrance hall, along the marble-clad corridors and up to the third floor in the 100-year-old lift — arriving at Casa Montani feels like calling in at a family’s home. And in a way, it is. Giuseppe Montani crafted this nine-room B&B from his nonna’s old flat at Flaminio, just beyond Piazza del Popolo. Spread across two floors (rooms upstairs, suites downstairs), the comfortable digs are full of family heirlooms, including 18th-century Roman postcards sent by Giuseppe’s ancestors to family in Abruzzo, a tapestry painted by Giuseppe’s nonna herself, and furniture from their country house. Added to this unique heritage are bathrooms clad in buttery travertine tiles, with Ortigia toiletries, and breakfast served in-room on elegant trolleys. Rooms: From €120 (£103), B&B.
10. The Guardian
Best for: budget
With its sunny, brightly coloured guestrooms, smart bathrooms and art-covered corridors, this hotel would cost at least double if located in the historic city centre. Out here in the neighbourhood of Esquilino, in a 19th-century belle époque building an easy 10-minute walk north of Termini train station, you get incredible bang for your buck. Breakfast is a loaded buffet spread, while in the evening, the sixth-floor Terrazza Costanza bar is packed with guests enjoying the sunset at aperitivo hour. They get to sip their cocktails overlooking the lush gardens of the British Embassy, as well as Porta Pia — one of the northern gates of Rome, famously designed by Michelangelo in the 1560s — and the Tiburtini Mountains in the distance. Rooms: from €145 (£124), B&B.
Published in the Jul/Aug 2024 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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