Best hotels in Rome: nine places in the neighbourhoods worth waking up in

At the top of the Spanish Steps

The Hassler stands at the head of the Spanish Steps, beside the church of Trinità dei Monti, and from the upper floors you look out over the whole centre towards St Peter's. This is one of Rome's old grand hotels, still family-owned, with a lobby where people lower their voices and a top-floor restaurant known across the city.

You stay here for the address and for the sense of a Rome that existed long before anyone photographed their breakfast. Rooms are classic, with heavy curtains and marble bathrooms, and those without a view can feel a little dated for the money. For people who want the old Rome, not the new one.

The garden between Popolo and the Pincio

Between Piazza del Popolo and the Pincio hill, Hotel de Russie has a terraced garden that climbs the slope behind the building. The garden is the reason to stay. Breakfast is under the orange trees, and in the evening it fills with Romans who come for an aperitivo.

The hotel is big enough to absorb children, and the staff are used to families. Rooms are light and contemporary, without the heavy baroque many people associate with Rome. Prices are in the top bracket, and Piazza del Popolo is on the edge of the centre, so the Pantheon is a quarter of an hour on foot.

The small house behind Palazzo Borghese

Vilòn sits in a side street behind Palazzo Borghese, between the Spanish Steps and the Tiber, with so few rooms you could count them on two hands and a bit. It is furnished like a private home, with deep colours, velvet, art and a small courtyard where dinner is served in summer.

This is the hotel for a couple who want Rome without a lobby scene or a group check-in. The mood is low-lit and grown-up. Rooms differ a great deal and some are small, so read the room type carefully. If you are travelling with children or want a gym and a pool, this is the wrong place.

The ivy by Piazza Navona

The façade is covered in ivy from pavement to roof, and you find it a stone's throw from Piazza Navona. The Raphael has a roof terrace facing the domes of Sant'Agnese and St Peter's, and a lobby filled with antiques and art the owning family has collected over the years.

We recommend the Raphael to first-time visitors who want everything within reach on foot: Navona, the Pantheon, Campo de' Fiori and Trastevere across the bridge. Rooms range from classic to contemporary, so choose deliberately. The street outside stays lively until late, which comes with the location.

The Colosseum in the window

The hotel is on Via Labicana, directly across the road from the Colosseum, and the view is the point. From the rooftop restaurant and several of the rooms you see the amphitheatre close enough to count the arches. The building is a converted palazzo that stands over the remains of an ancient gladiator training ground.

You stay here for one thing, and it delivers. Rooms are luxurious and modern, and the service matches the big names in the centre. But the immediate surroundings are traffic-heavy and short on evening life, and you walk into Monti for the neighbourhood feel. Less suited if you want lanes outside the door.

Fifteen rooms in the heart of Monti

The name says most of it: fifteen rooms in a town house on Via Urbana, one of Monti's friendliest streets, with a small courtyard and a breakfast room that feels like someone's kitchen. The interiors are Scandinavian in spirit, pale and uncluttered, which is welcome after a day of Roman baroque.

This is the hotel for anyone who wants to live like a local without renting a flat, and would rather spend the money on dinner than on a lobby. The Colosseum, the Forum and Termini are all walkable. Rooms are small and there is no restaurant or bar, but in Monti you do not need one.

The garden below the Janiculum

Horti 14 is in the quietest part of Trastevere, down towards the Tiber and Porta Portese, in a building with a large green garden where breakfast is served. You walk in from an ordinary street and end up in something like a private villa garden, with trees, art and silence.

The hotel suits anyone who wants Trastevere in the evening and quiet at night, a combination that is hard to find in this district. Rooms are modern and simple, with big bathrooms. The catch is a ten-minute walk to the heart of Trastevere and twenty to the centre, so this is for people who like walking.

The convent on the hill

The hotel occupies a former convent designed by the baroque architect Borromini, on the slope up to the Janiculum. The cloister garden survives, the corridors are long and hushed, and from the roof terrace you look out over Trastevere to the domes of the centre. It still feels a little like a convent, which is the idea.

Stay here if you want calm and history and do not need contemporary design. Rooms are simple and classic, some overlooking the garden. The steps down into Trastevere are steep, and you feel them on the way back up after dinner. Not one for bad knees or a pushchair.

The view over the treetops

The Eden stands at the top of Via Ludovisi, beside Villa Borghese, and from the roof you look over the tree canopy towards St Peter's and the whole centre. The hotel was rebuilt from the ground up in recent years, with light rooms in warm colours, marble and a great deal of art, and the top-floor bar is one of the most sought-after seats in the city at sunset.

This is the hotel for people who want new, polished and thoroughly done, and are willing to pay for it. The location is calm and green, but the Spanish Steps are a quarter of an hour away and the Pantheon twenty minutes. If you want lanes and cobbles outside the door, this is too quiet.