6 Best Hotels in Rome, Italy

The first Italian outpost of the French brand Mama Shelter, this hip hotel features a funky design with lots of colors and patterns and playful touches like graphic ceilings painted by French street artist Beniloys and vintage pinball machines you can play. Rooms have comfy beds, flat-screen TVs with free movies (including adult movies), and bathrooms with colorful tiles and organic toiletries. The main restaurant, Giardino d'Inverno, draws a trendy local crowd for classic Italian dishes with creative twists, plus live music and DJs from Thursday through Sunday. There's also a pizzeria and, in the warmer seasons, a rooftop terrace and a ground-floor garden restaurant with a cabana bar. The shop in the lobby sells branded merch, as well as handcuffs and other sex toys.

This friendly home away from home in a quiet residential area close to the Colosseum has been run by the Khan family since 1971. Its carefully and courteously attentive staffers go the extra mile for their guests. Clean and comfortable guest rooms have basic antique furnishings and big windows—some even with a view of the Colosseum—and all have air-conditioning, TVs, and Wi-Fi. Higher priced rooms have terraces or balconies as well. In the high season, the on-site restaurant serves dinner as well as breakfast, and the bar is always open for a drink.

On a side street around the corner from one of Rome's most impressive piazzas, this friendly hotel has polite and professional staff, public spaces styled with contemporary art, and guest rooms with wood fixtures and furnishings accentuated by warm colors. The intimate lounges and charming bar follow the same scheme, as does the breakfast room, where a generous American breakfast buffet is laid out in the morning, complete with complimentary newspapers.

The 1960s-era facade of this large, seven-story hotel designed by Gio Ponti contrasts with the turn-of-the-20th-century Italian court decor and the extensive botanical garden outside, resulting in a combination of traditional elegance and contemporary pleasure. Windows in every room overlook an ocean of green, surmounted by St. Peter's dome. The hotel has wonderful indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a piano bar with stained glass and carved walnut appointments, a massive spa, and chamber music in the garden.

Set in a quiet residential neighborhood amid 15 acres of lush Mediterranean parkland, the Rome Cavalieri is a true hilltop oasis with magnificent views as well as three outdoor pools, one indoor pool, and a palatial spa. Rooms (ask for one facing the city) are spacious, with private balconies, striped damask, puffy armchairs, and no shortage of luxe amenities, including a pillow menu and luxurious bath products. The rooftop restaurant, La Pergola, is one of the best in the city.

Ablaze with lights at night, this seven-layer-cake hotel—topped off by its famous cupola—is popular with visiting diplomats (who might be headed to the U.S. Embassy across the street), celebrities, and American conference groups. The interior is classically lavish, with mirrors, elegant moldings, Asian rugs, crystal chandeliers, and huge floral arrangements. Although guest rooms have elegant drapery, marble baths, top-quality linens, and big, firm beds, some could use a face-lift to better match the grandeur of the lobby and the other public areas. The hotel is home to Orvm Bar and Doney's—once the epicenter of Fellini's paparazzi, which features a pâtisserie, a cocktail bar, an opera-themed brunch on Sunday, and fine dining.