Features

Surviving the world’s most expensive cities: Rome

26 Feb 2009 by Sara Turner

When in Rome… you can often end up spending a fortune. O’ar Pali explains how to get the best value out of the city.

Hotels

Hotel dei Consoli Vaticano

In a city where affordable rates combined with authentic charm can be a little tricky to find, this 26-room hotel, which opened in 2000 in a renovated 19th-century building, is a real gem. The hotel is located near the Vatican Museums and is only half a block from the popular shopping street of Via Cola di Rienzo. The ornate public rooms, which feature stucco finishes and Murano glass chandeliers, are perfect for meetings with clients. Not all guestrooms are spacious but the service, cleanliness and décor make up for it. Air conditioning, satellite TV, internet (priced at e2.95 per hour) and fax services are all available. Breakfast, served on the rooftop terrace, is one of the best in any of Rome’s four-star hotels.

2/D Via Varrone; tel +39 668 892 972; hoteldeiconsoli.com

Rooms from €140

Trilussa Palace Hotel

Anything outside the centre of Rome seems to scare away the tourists but it’s worth venturing a little way out as prices are cheaper. Trastevere, where the Trilussa Palace Hotel is located, is about ten minutes’ drive from the historic centre and is a buzzing area full of bars, jazz clubs and restaurants. It hosts the Porta Portese flea market on Sundays and is home to the beautiful Piazza di Santa Maria. The hotel’s 45 rooms are airy and have satellite and pay-per-view TV, a minibar and internet access (wifi in public areas is e3 for duration of stay and e4 per hour for wired in-room). There is also a gym and a spa.

27 Piazza Ippolito Nievo; tel +39 6588 1963; trilussapalacehotel.it

Rooms from €140

Hotel Mozart  

Situated just off Via del Babuino, around the corner from Rome’s famed shopping street Via del Corso and a few minutes’ walk from the Spanish Steps, Hotel Mozart is in a great location. The 56 bedrooms are spacious – some even include winter gardens – and are equipped with flatscreen TVs. Free wifi is available in the lounge (or wired at public computer terminals) and a generous breakfast buffet is served on the balcony or in the dining room.

23/B Via dei Greci; tel +39 636 001 915; hotelmozart.com

Rooms from €140

Marcella Royal Hotel

Located on Via Flavia, close to the Repubblica metro station, the hotel is a short walk from Via Vittorio Veneto. The 85 rooms are spacious and clean and come with satellite TV and wifi access (charged at e15 for 24 hours). There is also a roof garden offering breathtaking views of the city, and a daily buffet breakfast. In the evening, light dinners and piano music can be enjoyed here sotto le stelle (under the stars).

106 Via Flavia; tel +39 642 014 591; marcellaroyalhotel.com

Rooms from €140

Hotel Michelangelo

This good-value, modern four-star hotel is a stone’s throw from St Peter’s Basilica and offers clean, spacious, soundproofed rooms equipped with wifi internet access (though note this costs e10 per hour) and satellite TV. Meeting rooms are available and there is an on-site restaurant and bar.

14 Via della Stazione di S Pietro; tel +39 639 8739; starhotels.com

Rooms from €140

Restaurants

Edy

Located on Vicolo del Babuino, near Piazza di Spagna, this restaurant boasts a prime location, authentic local dishes and good value for money. Favourites include baked aubergine parmigiana, spaghetti carbonara and sliced roast beef with potatoes. The venue is atmospheric with old ceilings and changing exhibitions of contemporary paintings. In an area where a decent meal tends to be on the expensive side, this restaurant is a good place to try fresh homemade Roman cuisine in a clean, fashionable environment, without splashing out.

4 Vicolo del Babuino; tel +39 636 001 738

Meals average €25 for three courses

Dal Bolognese

Although this little restaurant on Piazza del Popolo is mostly filled with business types, it is not unusual to spot the odd celeb or politician. The restaurant, open every day except Mondays until 11pm, is a fashionable haunt and a good choice for a trendy business lunch. The food is simple – try an appetiser of fresh Parma ham followed by tagliatelle alla bolognese – yet it is also fresh, tasty and well presented. During the spring and summer months the Roman it-crowd competes to score the best al fresco tables.

1-2 Piazza del Popolo; tel +39 6361 1426

Meals average €50 for three courses

Ad Hoc

This elegant gourmet hotspot on Via di Ripetta is a find if you are aiming to impress a colleague or a client with your local knowledge. The cuisine is some of the best in the city, the service is attentive but not stifling, and the atmosphere is smart yet cosy. Open until 1am (but closed on Mondays), it is great for a late-night dinner. Try the beef carpaccio with Parmesan cheese, chilli and olive oil, or the handmade pasta with black truffles. Alternatively, go for one of the classical Roman dishes, such as veal escalope with white wine, butter and ham. If you book online you get a 15 per cent discount on food and wine.

43 Via di Ripetta; tel +39 6323 3040; ristoranteadhoc.com

Meals average €55 for three courses

Ristorante Sangallo

This is a place you could write home to mother about. The staff are attentive and eager to show how much your custom is appreciated – from the glass of prosecco wine you are offered when you walk through the door to the small souvenir bottle of olive oil you are presented with at the end of your meal. Tucked away on Vicolo della Vaccarella, near Piazza Navona, Sangallo fuses Italian cuisine with just the right dose of creativity to make the food not only delicious and aesthetically pleasing but trend-setting. It is hard to pick a favourite, but a few interesting dishes are fried salted cod fish with apples and walnuts, and ravioli filled with pumpkin and buffalo ricotta cheese, pine seeds and raisins.

11/A Vicolo della Vaccarella; tel +39 6686 5549; ristorantesangallo.com

Set dinner €60 for three courses

Spirito Di Vino

The name is a play on words meaning either “divine spirit” or “spirit of wine”. Featuring a tantalizing selection of 1,000 different labels from all over the world and two well-regarded sommeliers, this family-run establishment definitely lives up to its name, or at least its more worldly interpretation. The décor is cosy with terracotta walls, alcoves, archways and private seating areas. The menu offers 20 different appetisers as well as what it maintains to be ancient Roman dishes such as marinated pork fat roasted in spices. (Don’t worry, more modern dishes are also available.)

31 A/B Via dei Genovesi; tel +39 6589 6689; spiritodivino.com

Meals average €45 for three courses

Ten things to do for free

  1. Made famous by the 1953 film Roman Holiday, La Bocca della Verità (the Mouth of Truth) is located in the piazza of the same name and was once an ancient sewer gate. Legend has it that it’s an ancient lie detector, and if you tell a falsehood while your hand is in its mouth, it will bite it off.

  2. The Spanish Steps in Piazza di Spagna is the longest and widest staircase in Europe. It’s the perfect place to sit and enjoy a delicious gelato (ice cream), sunbathe or people watch.

  3. The Colosseum is a triumphant symbol of ancient Rome and a testament to Roman engineering. Although it costs e15.50 to go inside, there is nothing to stop you taking a walk around Piazza del Colosseo, among the silver olive trees and crumbling columns of the Roman Forum.

  4. Visit the Pantheon (built in 126AD) in Piazza della Rotunda and you will feel like you have travelled back in time. Watch the shafts of sunlight that fall through the round opening of the vast domed roof. It is also the burial site of many great people, such as the Renaissance artist Raphael.

  5. Perhaps appreciated more by tourists than locals, Il Vittoriano in Piazza Venezia, is a solid white marble monument built in honour of the first king of unified Italy – Victor Emmanuel II.  

  6. There are few things Italians enjoy more than having a drink at an outdoor café in a piazza. Visit the famous Piazza Navona and sit among breathtaking fountains and opulent baroque architecture. The area is particularly lively in the evening, when street artists and doting couples make it their own. Campo dei Fiori, only a few steps away, has a colourful market most days.

  7. The gardens of Villa Borghese offer some of the best views of Rome – enter via Piazza del Popolo to the south.

  8. Regardless of your religion or beliefs, Piazza san Pietro and the almighty St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City are an essential part of the Roman sojourn. But remember to adhere to the dress code – no bare legs or shoulders. Open 7am-7pm.

  9. If you have time on a Wednesday morning, get a free ticket to Pope Benedict XVI’s weekly public address. (Go to the bronze doors to the Apostolic Palace and ask a Swiss guard.) Alternatively, look out for him waving from his window at noon on Sundays.

  10. Tourist hotspots in Rome can get very crowded during the day so consider going for a midnight stroll. In summer, the streets remain warm and lively late into the night. The stunning Trevi Fountain is a must – toss a coin, if you have one spare, and make a wish. Other good destinations to visit by moonlight are Castel St Angelo, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, St Peter’s and the Spanish Steps.

Hot tips

  • On the last Sunday of every month, most of the popular attractions, such as the Vatican Museums, are free.
  • Don’t forget some of the most breathtaking frescos and art in Rome are housed in the city’s numerous churches, which are free to enter.
  • Estate Romana, Rome’s summer festival, takes place between June and September, during which many free events take place in and around the city’s parks, piazzas, galleries and ancient sites. Catch an open-air screening, classical concert, cabaret performance or literary reading.
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