Top 10: the best five-star hotels in Rome
An expert guide to the best five-star hotels in Rome, including the top places to stay for glamorous interiors, great views, Michelin-starred dining and pampering service.
J.K. Place Roma
One of Italy’s classiest townhouse hotels, J.K. Place has been much imitated, but few of the copies match the warm, suave, elegant original. The design — based on a discreet, quietly opulent Dolce Vita retro look — is as impressive in the bedrooms as it is in the downstairs communal areas. The ground floor feels a little like a stylish contemporary gentleman’s club — especially the chic little lounge/library. Although the room rates may seem steep, once you’re here there’s no meanness about extra charges — the mini-bar is complimentary, a buffet breakfast is always included, and the staff go that extra mile to help.
Read the full review: J.K. Place Roma
Palazzo Manfredi
It makes no secret of its luxury cachet, this 16-room gem so close to the Colosseum that you can almost hear the lions roar. From the moment you step through the discreet door to be greeted like visiting royalty, the Manfredi dazzles with its tastefully glamorous décor and stunning views. In the rooms, details like repro classical busts and playful Palladian wallpaper help to ground one in the Eternal City. The concierge service is excellent, unbiased and well-informed. For once, the cuisine matches the view in the rooftop Aroma restaurant with its breathtaking Colosseum views.
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Hotel De Russie
The De Russie melds the elegant classicism of Ancient Rome with a more contemporary idiom that nods to the Art Deco-influenced design of the interwar years in Italy. They have some of the best-informed concierges in the capital here. Facilities include a small but rather lovely spa with six treatment rooms, a fully equipped gym, and a range of bespoke activities. Jardin de Russie restaurant has become less frou-frou since it passed into the capable hands of executive (and Michelin-starred) chef Fulvio Pierangelini, an earthy Tuscan who makes a virtue of simplicity.
Read the full review: Hotel De Russie
Hassler Roma
The Hassler style is a mercurial mix of original Belle Époque grandeur and a contemporary revisit of Art Deco. Classic rooms are accented with vintage wooden furniture and antiquities, while the bold contemporary counterparts have brightly coloured bolted furniture, linear dark panels and Swarovski accents, including recessed ceiling lights. The hotel’s original 19th-century concierge desk in the hotel lobby sets the stage for the Hassler 'grand hotel' service focus, which is formal and precise. For the nearly a decade, the Michelin-starred restaurant Imagò has reigned on the Hassler’s sixth floor with its spectacular panoramic view and equally spell-binding Italian-fusion cuisine.
Read the full review: Hassler Roma
Hotel Lord Byron
One of those small luxury hotels that attracts fierce loyalty, the Lord Byron is a haven of tasteful elegance, with a 1920s vibe, near leafy Villa Borghese. The upside of its off-centre location is peace, quiet and the sense of having wandered into the private Roman residence of a wealthy collector. Art Deco verve and Belle Epoque romance meet in a mix which nevertheless manages to feel light and fresh. With its elegant clubroom atmosphere, the Salotto Lounge & Wine Bar is perfect for indulging fin-de-siecle fantasies over a glass of bubbly in one of Europe’s most romantic cities.
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Rome Cavalieri
This 1960s luxe player perched high above the city on verdant Monte Mario offers everything from museum-quality artworks in the lobby, to Rome’s leading gourmet restaurant, La Pergola, via three outdoor swimming pools and a huge, full-featured spa and fitness club. Each of the 345 bedrooms has its own private balcony and the smallest is a generous 50 square metres. The style is pampered opulence – especially in the suites, which occupy the top two Imperial Club floors. If that Eternal City panorama is a must – and it should be – make sure you opt for a “Rome View” room when booking.
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Hotel Eden
The classily opulent Eden sets the bar for high-end luxury in Rome. The Eden is raised aristocratically above the fray near the top of the Spanish Steps, which gives it breathtaking views over the whole centro storico to St Peter’s and beyond – especially from the rooftop bar/restaurant and breakfast room. There’s no such thing as a small room at the Eden. High windows ensure plenty of natural light, with other bonus points including Bottega Veneto amenities, Bang & Olufsen televisions and sound systems, and iPads.
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Hotel Indigo Rome — St. George
A stylish centro storico bolthole offering elegant rooms, exceptional dining and a roof terrace close to the Vatican, Piazza Navona and Trastevere. Think of St. George as a better-value version of the Hotel de Russie. It’s chasing the same contemporary classic look, and achieves it with verve and flair. The lashings of travertine marble, leather armchairs and the occasional hint of Art Deco all nod at Italy’s great 20th-century design tradition. The pretty outside courtyard and roof garden give guests some breathing space beyond the hotel’s compact lobby, library and cigar room spaces.
Read the full review: Hotel Indigo Rome - St. George
D.O.M Hotel
There’s a Baroque masculinity to D.O.M’s design scheme, which has taken a former monastery — with many of its Latin marble inscriptions still in situ — and turned it into an intimate, romantic bolthole for stylish travellers. Huge mirrors, hunting trophies, retro furnishings covered in burnished velvet, theatrical chandeliers, oversized wax candles and a selection of classic art photographs by Slim Aarons and others set the tone. The hotel’s evening-only ‘Deer Club’ restaurant and bar (the cocktails are excellent) relocates from the opulent, nightclubby ground-floor lounge to the hugely atmospheric Roman rooftop terrace in fine weather.
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Residenza Napoleone III
Some hotels model themselves on stately homes or aristocratic townhouses; Residenza Napoleone III is one. The owner, Principessa Letizia Ruspoli, has created a single guest apartment out of a whole suite of rooms, where the Emperor Napoleon III once stayed. The Old Master paintings you see on the walls, the busts of Roman emperors that line the grand entrance staircase, the heirloom antiques that decorate the place — all these things have been in the Ruspoli family for generations. But this is no draughty castle — it feels warm despite the grand setting.
Read the full review: Residenza Napoleone III
