Rome Hotel: Stay in Piazza Navonna Or Margutta - Campo Marzio Area ?
 

Would you rather stay right by Piazza Navona or Margutta and Campo Marzio Area?
I've done a lot of reading and research since I posted my " Rome 1st time" thread. Now it's coming down to two possible locations for my accommodation and getting on with my reservation for Spring 2016 or may 2016. Budget is not an issue.

My important considerations are more on the location's overall Roman vibe and visitor experience, nice surroundings, good restaurants. In terms of the hordes of tourists at Navona, is it that bad? I do know that P Navonna has whole lot more people being a plaza and all than Margutta street.

I'm thinking about a couple of suite accommodations: Marguutta 54 and Navonna 49.
http://www.romeluxurysuites.com/marg...fault-en.html?
or
http://www.navona49.com
Thanks

If I want to be "central," which typically includes the Vatican, nothing beats Piazza Navona.

I stay on via Margutta if I plan to do a lot of shopping at the high-end stores, which is usually around Christmas.

Most everything off of Via del Corso, IMO, lacks charm, at least my definition of charm.

I wouldn't want to stay IN Piazza Navona. I just don't like being in an area that crowded, and I'd check reviews for Navona 49 for any comments about exterior noise. Noise would be a deal-breaker for me.

FWIW, I know pictures can be deceiving, but I think the Margutta accommodations look much nicer in the photos.

I would stay at the Piazza Navona choice. Via Margutta is very pretty but it is surrounded by high end shopping and not a lot of 'charm' as you would find in the tiny streets that surround Piazza Navona.

It is a 20 minute walk from the via Margutta to the piazza Navona, and vice versa, so you can enjoy both from either location. It is actually a slightly shorter walk to the Vatican museums from via Margutta than it is piazza Navona, but a 10 minute further walk to piazza San Pietro.

Charm means different things to different people in Rome. Hordes of tourists piling into tiny side streets is not charming for me, nor is a lot of party drinking noise going on past midnight in same said tiny streets. For me, via Margutta is not only more tranquil it also has the charm of its associations with Fellini and Roman Holiday, and a boho arts colony of a now-lost time. There are a couple of restaurants around via Margutta that I like, and when I am around the piazza Navona, I always get out of that area to eat because I think the restaurants are poor.

So you ask a bunch of different people, and you get a bunch of different answers.

I would prefer Via Margutta, which is a very pretty street. I also like the nearby Via del Babuino, and the upper end of Via del Corso, which is much narrower and less trafficked than the lower end. I have no interest in high-end shopping, but I still enjoy the area.

However, as Sandra says, the two accommodations are so close together (I would say 15 minutes' walk rather than 20) that I would probably choose based on the apartment itself rather than the location.

Three years ago, we stayed very near Piazza Novana, and loved it. If you are an early riser, it is so great to walk out your front door and have the Piazza to yourself. Totally. Nobody else there. Then you walk to the Trevi and on, and see the sun rise over the Forum. When the hordes arrive, you go and have breakfast! Yes, the rest of the day the little streets are crowded - but so is most of the rest of Rome.

<Hordes of tourists piling into tiny side streets is not charming for me, nor is a lot of party drinking noise going on past midnight in same said tiny streets> - where? which side streets have drinking and partying past midnight? Every. single. one?

Clearly said by someone who hasn't stayed for any length of time in the area - which is quite large by the way and there are many spots that do not fit Sandralists brief (I thought you had departed by the way)

The 'Roman Holiday' Via Margutta is long gone - the street is occupied by high end hotels and several closed restaurants. Very pretty and quiet but same if you delve into the streets around Piazza Navona.

<i><font color=#555555>"drinking and partying past midnight"</font></i>

I find Piazza della Rotonda to be Rome's noisiest after-hours piazza. Campo de' Fiori an equal or close second. And I won't even mention Trastevere, where all the kids are.

Rome is a VERY noisy city. It's really difficult to find quiet there. You MUST travel with good ear-plugs if you're a light sleeper. The roaring, grinding vespas at all hours are utterly obnoxious, and they can be driven anywhere a human can walk.

Via Margutta is a lovely, narrow street. There are no five-star hotels located on it, and the lux lodging that does exist is quite discreet. For my favorite hideaway, you have to walk through a closed-door courtyard before you find the entrance.

Restaurants come and go in that area. The high-end shopping district has always been a challenge for foodies or folks who are dining on a budget. Have no clue how the OP feels about food.

To me, via Margutta can feel remote. It's a long walk to Trastevere, Old Rome, the Colosseum, and my friends who live near the Farnese. But it's a wonderful place to stay if you enjoy shopping near the Spanish Steps, like I do.

Sorry I can't comment on the apts. Do not have time to check out the links.

Blueeyedcod, you are wrong. Not only have I stayed in the area twice, but I also have friends with an apartment in the area who finally installed what are known as "Heathrow 5" glazed windows to make living in the 3rd floor apartment off the piazza Navona bearable because of all the late-night noise around the popular bars.

If you had read my post instead of just seeing red because people observe things you don't and then have the gall to share them with people needing information, you might have noticed that when I wrote about the via Margutta, I used the words "now lost" and saved yourself the embarrassment.

Restaurants do not "come and go" in that area any more than they do near the piazza Navona. Mostly they never change.

Look, you don't have to be such a jerk just because there are more enjoyable parts of Rome than the piazza Navona, piazza Navona, piazza Navona, piazza Navona. Many of us bought into that advice for our early visits to Rome and came to realize there were not only many other wonderful neighborhoods, but that staying in neighborhoods of Rome dominated by Romans, not tourists, was a lot more rewarding in many ways.

FFpizz,

This is from the Rome Wise guide to Roman neighborhoods, giving advice to visitors about where to stay, listing pros and cons for such places like piazza Navona or the Spanish Steps area, etc

Piazza Navona:

"Due to the small streets and very old buildings, and also the abundance of nightlife (bars), this is an area of Rome that may be most difficult to find a quiet place to stay. But they do exist, so check with your hotel about their soundproofing and/or location to be sure."

Spanish Steps area:

"The area really quiets down at night (with the exception of the actual steps themselves, where people tend to hang out day and night.) Unless you are staying right near a restaurant, you should find this a quiet place to stay (always ask before booking your hotel.)"

http://www.romewise.com/rome-neighborhoods.html

FFpizz,

You have to be careful of the board "addicts" whose personalities are overtaken by "control" issues. They're hard-bent on pushing and smothering, desperate for you to see travel exactly as they see it.

<i><font color=#555555>"Mostly they never change."</font></i>

Sweetie Sandy, you need to get to Rome a lot more often than you claim in order to pass for a real estate "expert." Considering you don't like people very much, especially the hordes of tourists you so often claim to abhor, I sincerely doubt you know much about our favorite places to stroll and congregate.

Posting quotes and promoting a website created by an expat from Florida is not actual "living" experience. You can't run a successful B&B in Italy and live the tourist life.

Thanks all. I just want to have a "good authentic Roman experience". Would love to be in Rome's Centro and have read that the Pantheon, Campo d Fiori, P Navona areas are the places to stay at for 1st time visitors. Am I wrong(?) to think that these Centro places would feel like being at Barcelona's Las Ramblas, or Madrid's Puerta del Sol. Areas I would not stay at in Spain and tend to avoid.

Searching for alternative yet still Rome Centro places, I happen to read on Margutta St being pretty and all. I read a lot of hotel reviews on booking.com or those sites where actual guests are the only ones who can post reviews.

You guys have obviously been to Rome multiple times. Though you may disagree in your views or impressions about Rome areas, your posts are very helpful and informative.

@NYCfoodSnob
Re: Restaurants. I could be quite a food snob myself :). But I just want delicious food. I appreciate good food, whether simple or Michelin ***. Dinners will be in my hotel's area, lunches however will be where I'm at during the day.

<i><font color=#555555>"Would love to be in Rome's Centro and have read that the Pantheon, Campo d Fiori, P Navona areas are the places to stay at for 1st time visitors. Am I wrong(?)"</font></i>

No you're not wrong.

My first time to Rome was in the late 70's. I don't know how many times I've been to Rome, because I do business there, and I have a relative who works in the Vatican. The number of trips changes constantly. I've worked on three films in Rome and have stayed there for weeks at a time. I'm currently bidding on another film scheduled to shoot outside of Rome. I no longer know what could please a first-timer.

A good reason to stay in the areas you mentioned is convenience. From those areas, you can walk to most of the important (or most popular) sites. If you are too tired to walk, it's fairly inexpensive to take a cab from wherever and get dropped in the center.

Rome offers a lot of nice areas with very pretty streets. Some of the small streets off of Piazza Navona are among the prettiest. I don't think there's any area in the city center that's worth avoiding. Your questions should be: where can one find quiet at night (very difficult), where can one find the bustle and energy of city life, where can one settle that's convenient to the things you want to see and do. Food is another subject altogether. For my tastes, I travel to food, so it doesn't matter where I stay.

Rome's city center offers a lot of bang for the buck. There are plenty of fabulous places away from the center, but you learn about them the more you travel there. And then you decide what works best for you, based on your desired itinerary.

So I guess I've answered the question. For a first-time visit, you can't go wrong choosing the center.

As I've said earlier, via Margutta is not that close to what many tourists consider the center. Via Margutta is on the edge of Pincian Hill. There are a lot of tourists who love staying near Piazza del Popolo. It's a stone's throw from The Spanish Steps. The rent is high here. You can't go wrong. I just happen to love the energy of Campo d'Fiori, the majesty of the Colosseum, and the beauty of the central squares and fountains. And those are a really long walk from Margutta.

The restaurant scene has changed so much since the conversion to Euro. I'm sorry to say, I stopped sharing my favorites on public boards. But there are plenty of bloggers who do share these things. Research is your friend.

Good luck.

Thanks to all who posted: Sandra, Blueeyed, NYCFood, bvlenci Kovsie, Jean, etc. Your different opinions and individual perspectives make the info on Rome more 3 dimensional.

What I took from this thread is, I will be fine as long as I stay on Centro Storico.

I though it was gonna be easy looking for hotels in Rome because it is a big city. But based on research, I pretty much eliminated all the 4* -5* on Via Veneto area: Westin, Baglioni and the like.

So Centro is it. Also on my shortlist I have 4* Ponte Sisto and 5* DOM. www.hotelpontesisto.it and domhotelroma.com

Ponte Sisto looks charming, DOM could be annexed to any hotel in NYC, Miami or Las Vegas :). Both have rooms that i like. Rates are comparable. But on google walk streetview, looks like both hotels are in seedy un-charming alleys?

>>>Both have rooms that i like. Rates are comparable. But on google walk streetview, looks like both hotels are in seedy un-charming alleys?<<<

No. The Dom seems to be on via Giulia, a street many love and think charming. Neither area is considered seedy. Much of the center of Rome looks the same. Narrow alleys with cobblestones (via Margutta too).

I stayed at the Ponte Sisto as a single female and it was a great choice. Immediate area is a little funky but I felt perfectly safe. I would definitely stay there again.

I imagine in Google Street View, most streets in Rome appear "seedy." "Funky" is a word any tourist could use to describe anything in Italy. I have no idea what either means in the context of these two hotel locations.

The historical center of Rome is quite large. There are a few corners here and there that have shown up in the movies, but a lot of streets are just ordinary and typical of Rome.

Via dei Pettinari is long and narrow. This is not a street known for excitement or window shopping. It only gets sunlight at a certain time of day. From here, you are a short walk from a famously photographed trestle on via Giulia. In the opposite direction, you can shop until you drop on via dei Giubbonari. I know the area well, since my favorite apartment near the Farnese is nearby.

Via Giulia is a very long street, but it gets much more daylight and feels more open. A lot of people find it charming, but mostly I find it an easy walk to the Vatican. IMO, old-Rome streets are more "charming" north of Corso Emanuele. There's more to see and do as you walk closer to Campo de' Fiori and Navona.

Hotel choice depends on personal taste and budget. Generally speaking, for the lowest price-point, you can't expect any room that's photographed on the hotel's website. They only photograph the prettiest rooms with the best views. If you want those rooms, you'll need a number, and you'll need a budget to pay for it.

While neither hotel is my taste, the Sisto property looks more fun than the DOM, except the DOM does have their DOM Suite, which also looks like fun. There's nothing like having a private terrace in Rome in May. I always prefer fun over anything else. Good luck.

Even though I think ultra-modern, white interiors look silly, especially in ancient Rome, it would be difficult to pass up that terrace at Navona49, I don't care how noisy the apartment is. That's what earplugs are for.

What I took from this thread is, I will be fine as long as I stay on Centro Storico.>>

yes, absolutely, and everyone here wants you to like what they like, NYFS and SL included. And of course I'm no different, so I'm going to suggest that you look at the area around via Panico and via Coronari - it's mostly residential so it's very quiet at night, and there are lots of ordinary Roman restaurants, shops and people. And it's very convenient for most of the main sights.

but really, it's hard to go wrong.

<i><font color=#555555>"everyone here wants you to like what they like, NYFS…included"</font></i>

That is absolutely not true, and I wish people on this board, complete strangers, would stop shoving their words and their projections down my throat, and forcing me to own them. IMO, there is no ruder, more obnoxious behavior.

I work and travel for a very specific industry: it's called "show business." Why would I think there are any tourists on this board who share my personal travel needs or requirements? Asking other travelers to "like what I like" is a fool's effort. Most tourists who use this board are "on vacation," and I'm no fool.

Furthermore, I don't need to be liked. I don't need anyone's approval. I'm not here to win popularity contests. I view all those aspects of internet forum life as immature, high school, child's play.

My 40+ years of travel experience should speak for itself. If there is something, just one thing that a travel researcher can cull from my personal experience, then I am satisfied.

@NYCFoodSnob, Your detailed street descriptions are GREAT info regarding the vibe of such places and streets.
@annhig, Will check out hotels around that area.

Thanks to you all, my knowledge of Rome areas has tremendously increased and now feel comfortable about making a decision where to stay. I adjust my hotel expenditures according to the rates of the city and the room that I want.

Hotel location, customer service, and a high-quality room/bed are big factors for me. Decor-wise, well, I can't expect a hotel to redecorate every year. But I would choose a more contemporary vibe over a frou-frou-ish chintzy hotel room.

I don't like hotels in business areas that shut down and get deserted after store hours. A few bars here and there in my hotel's surroundings are fine with me.

Also, I read a lot of posts that in Italy, the star rating system doesn't measure quality, but amenities. Interesting info. It's a reality check to the '5* or nothing' mindset. It surprised me that Rome has so many small hotels in the "Suites" category. In any other city, like Paris or Barcelona, I will have my choice of big or medium hotels before even considering 5-10 room Suite Hotels.

I just returned from my first trip to Rome. We stayed near Piazza Navona down one of those narrow, cute streets. We stayed at HiSuites Rome and it was perfect for 4 of us. There are two restaurants right outside the front doors, so there was noise until midnight, but we were usually still out anyway. I found the location perfect for getting around and easy to find a taxi stand when we needed it. There are so many restaurant options in the area.

Furthermore, I don't need to be liked. I don't need anyone's approval. I'm not here to win popularity contests. I view all those aspects of internet forum life as immature, high school, child's play. >>

that's lucky.