Rome hotel guide: The world’s briefest (Hey, I live in an apartment!) offers four I can recommend
One advantage of living in Rome is I can vacation in Rome anytime I want. Marina and I can pack a bag and take a short bus ride or subway to a great hotel in the middle of one of the most glamorous cities in the world.
In the U.S. they call them “staycations,” which isn’t quite accurate. Many Americans – too many Americans – look at staycations as literally staying home, as in their house. If they get enough energy, they rake the leaves.
Italians don’t have a word for what we do. After all, we know no one else who does this. We’ve done it six times and will be making it an annual event. It’s the perfect birthday gift or pre-Valentine’s Day getaway (as I’ll explain below).
It also helps me, finally, answer one of the first questions friends ask me before they come to Rome: Can you recommend a place to stay? How would I know? I’ve lived in apartments here for 11 years. One rich clown from my high school class once asked me, “Can you recommend a five-star hotel in Rome?”
No, you arrogant prick. But I hear there’s a nice Marriott on Jupiter.
But with visits to six hotels, I can put together a pseudo Rome hotel guide. Granted, it’s a lousy Rome hotel guide. Two of the hotels closed. The Sheraton Roma Conference Center featured one of the nicest pools in the city and recently changed hands. I checked the Borgofico Relais & Wellness near Piazza Navona but its phone doesn’t work and it has no website. I visited Monday and it is now an apartment.
That leaves four I can offer. OK, so I’m not Rick Steves. Check Booking.com.
However, I do have good news: According to Federalberghi Roma, the trade association of Rome hotels, price gouging in this year of the Rome Jubilee is surprisingly at a minimum. Occupancy is even less than officials predicted.
About 35 million pilgrims are expected this year and Rome is more crowded than I’ve ever seen it in May. Yet the hotel association and online comments from people who are in Rome or just visited say they have not been gouged.
So for what it’s worth, here are four hotels in Rome for which we can vouch, in the order of preference. (All prices from hotel websites or front desk.) Also, folks, instead of asking for a hotel recommendation, ask me to recommend a neighborhood. That I have you covered here.
QC Termeroma
Via Portuense 2178, 39-02-8974-7209, https://www.qcterme.com/it/home. Technically, Termeroma is in the town of Fiumicino where Rome’s international airport is. But it’s only 20 miles from Rome and I especially recommend it if you have an early flight the next day.
What makes Termeroma special is its spa. It’s an absolute pleasure palace which harks you back to the decadence of the Roman Empire. The spa has three buildings built in the 1920s inside 10,000 acres of oak, pine and eucalyptus trees. Outside are three big pools, including a 97-degree Jacuzzi and chaise lounges scattered about.
Inside is a sauna, a cold shower, two cascading waterfalls and more Jacuzzis. Nearly all the guests were from the Rome area.
Afterward, we nibbled on antipasti in our bathrobes in an adjacent banquet room and slept blissfully in the spacious five-star rooms.
In 2020, I paid €216 for the hotel and spa. This year I paid €288.
Trianon Borgo Pio
Piazza delle Vaschette 13, 39-06-6860-0849, https://www.trianonborgopio.com/en, info@trianonborgopio.com.
Relatively new, the four-star hotel opened in 2001 in the charming, historical neighborhood of Borgo Pio. Located a crucifix throw from St. Peter’s Square, Borgo Pio is a small, trapezoid-shaped neighborhood with narrow streets lined with restaurants and bars with outdoor seating.
Yes, it’s touristy but the location is ideal with priests and nuns frequently walking past you to and from the Vatican.
The hotel is small and quaint. It’s modern with big, beautiful rooms with balconies overlooking the neighborhood rooftops. We even had a view of St. Peter’s iconic dome.
We love the seventh-floor bar with panoramic views of St. Peter’s and the ‘hood. It has been a popular host of my Expats Living in Rome aperitivo every Tuesday.
I took Marina there on Feb. 13, the day before Valentine’s Day when I paid €168 including an excellent buffet breakfast. The next day it jumped, depending on the room, to €380-€400. No, Marina, I’m not cheap.
I’m also not stupid.
The going rate this summer varies but for June 15, for example, it’s €340 including breakfast.
Golden Tulip Rome Piram
Via Amendola 7, 39-06-4890-1248, https://rome-piram.goldentulip.com/en-us/?sr=SEO_GOOGLE.
The neighborhood around Termini train station can be a bit seedy but the four-star Piram is on a quiet side street 200 meters away. It was known as the Welcome Piram Hotel when we stayed there in 2018 and its spa and Old Rome decor attracted me to it.
The spa has a Finnish sauna, a Turkish bath and hydrotherapeutic shower. Afterward, we had drinks at the beautiful marble Apotheke bar. The Piram also has a rooftop bar with nice views of, well, Termini.
It’s an ideal location for travel. You can go anywhere in the city, in the region and the country from Termini which not only has Italy’s biggest train station but is also the hub for the Metro subway and bus systems.
It’s also a short walk from Via Nazionale featuring some of Rome’s more affordable shopping and walking distance to numerous excellent local affordable trattorias.
I paid €210 in 2018. Now in June it is priced at €230.
Appia Park
Via Appia Nuova 934, 39-06-716-741, https://www.appiaparkhotel.it/en, prenotazione@appiaparkhotel.it.
It’s off of Rome’s well-beaten hotel path. Via Appia Nuova is the modern road that parallels the Appian Way, the legendary road Ancient Rome built to the sea. It’s also where Spartacus’ slave strike backfired and 6,000 of his men were crucified along the side of the road.
The Appia Park is six miles south of Rome’s Centro Storico in a leafy area away from the congestion of the inner city. It’s a popular business hotel with many conference rooms and a lavish buffet breakfast.
We went on Valentine’s Day during Covid when all restaurants and bars closed at 6 p.m. except for takeout and delivery. The hotel gave us a menu from the nearby Ristorante San Tarcisio and we ordered in. We had a feast in an empty dining room for possibly the most casual Valentine’s Day dinner in man’s history.
The Appia Park’s location is terrific for exploring. The Appian Way originally was a 362-mile cobblestone road all the way to Brindisi on the Adriatic Sea. Today, it is paved starting near Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s former summer residence about 20 miles from Rome.
We walked along the 2,000-year-old cobblestones and marveled at the remains of villas owned by the wealthy of Ancient Rome. Appian Way is also near the Acquedotto where a walking path takes you past remains of the aqueduct that brought water to the city 2,000 years ago.
Due to Covid killing tourism at the time, I paid only €80. In May it is priced at €176.