City Hotel
Rome, Italy
9.3
Bulgari Hotel Roma
The Roman jeweller's 2023 homecoming: a rationalist landmark on Piazza Augusto Imperatore turned into a temple of marble, mosaic and Niko Romito cooking.
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Italy
Rome
Rome layers its millennia casually: a Baroque fountain fed by an ancient aqueduct, a Caravaggio hanging in a working church, an aperitivo terrace above a Republican-era temple. The Eternal City treats astonishment as a daily condition, which is precisely why it never exhausts its visitors.
Luxury in Rome means rooftop views over a skyline of domes, hotels set in former palazzi and villas, and dining that honours tradition with quiet confidence. Whether your compass points to the Vatican's galleries or a carbonara in Trastevere, Rome insists — correctly — that beauty and appetite belong together.
The best hotels in Rome
City Hotel
Rome, Italy
9.2
Hotel Eden
A Dorchester Collection grande dame above the Spanish Steps whose rooftop dining room frames one of the finest skyline views in Rome.
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City Hotel
Rome, Italy
9.0
Hotel de Russie
A Rocco Forte classic between Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps, beloved for its terraced secret garden and understated Roman elegance.
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City Hotel
Rome, Italy
9.0
Hassler Roma
A family-run grande dame crowning the Spanish Steps, with rooftop Michelin-starred dining and the whole of Rome unrolled below.
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Best areas to stay
Spanish Steps & Via Veneto
The historic luxury quarter, where storied hotels and flagship boutiques sit above the Piazza di Spagna and the Borghese gardens.
Centro Storico (Pantheon & Navona)
The dense heart of the old city puts the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Rome's best strolling streets on your doorstep.
Trastevere
Across the Tiber, ivy-hung lanes and trattorie give this village-like district its bohemian charm and superb evening atmosphere.
Dining & nightlife
Roman cooking is a discipline of few ingredients handled perfectly: cacio e pepe, artichokes, porchetta, gelato worth crossing town for. Aperitivo hour animates piazzas across the centre, and rooftop bars turn the skyline of domes into the evening's entertainment. Trust family-run trattorie over anywhere with a menu in five languages.
Travelling as a family
Gladiators, catacombs and coin-throwing at the Trevi Fountain give children a version of history that never feels like homework. Villa Borghese offers rowing boats and bicycles, and gelato negotiates any afternoon slump.
Travelling as a couple
Rome after dark, when floodlit fountains have the piazzas nearly to themselves, is among Europe's great romantic experiences. Private early-access Vatican tours, sunset from the Pincio terrace and long candlelit dinners in Trastevere set the register.
Cultural highlights
- The Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill
- The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
- The Pantheon's two-thousand-year-old dome
- Galleria Borghese's Bernini sculptures
Stories from Rome
Rankings
Europe's Most Iconic Grand Hotels
The palaces of Paris, the legends of London, the salons of Venice: a tour through the grand hotels that wrote the rules of European luxury and still enforce them.
8 min read
Food & Dining
Dinner at Altitude: The Ascent of Hotel Rooftop Dining
The hotel roof has been promoted from service space to signature restaurant. What separates the great rooftop tables from the merely elevated — and where the form is heading.
6 min read
Hotel Openings
Bulgari Hotel Roma: The Jeweller Comes Home
Facing the Mausoleum of Augustus from a restored 1930s palazzo, Bulgari's Roman hotel is the maison's most personal opening — and the Eternal City's most polished new stay.
6 min read
The Browntravels Edit
Exceptional hotels, delivered beautifully.
Exceptional hotels, new openings and destination inspiration, delivered beautifully. Once a week, never more.