Romantic hotel/apartment in Rome for anniversary trip?

[kerpob]

Hi my DH and I are going away (without kids!!) for his fortieth birthday and our tenth wedding anniversary first week in April. We have two children with SN so this truly is a big deal for us as we have never been away for a break without them. Also I have organised this as a surprise for him so would like to book something special by way of accommodation. I like the look of the Trastevere area. Can anyone recommend some really nice romantic accommodation either apartment or hotel? We don't mind walking to the sights and would prefer something that offered us the possibility of a good night's sleep :) so we don't need anywhere especially central. Ideally something a bit more authentically Italian rather than a hotel chain where we could be anywhere IYSWIM. Many thanks.

I can't recommend a hotel because we stayed in a fairly bog standard 3 star, nice but not wow luxury! However, if you were thinking of doing any organised walking tours, we used Roman Candle - they were fantastic, really knowledgable and enthusiastic.

Anyway, you'll have a great time - Rome is fab!

If you are feeling flush the Minerva is lovely, and very well located.

We spent a lovely 5 days in Rome, and I chose our hotel after reading excellent reviews on Trip Advisor. It is called the Campo De Fiori. You can read my review and others here, and see travellers photos.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g187791-d208552-r33014124-Hotel_Campo_De_Fiori-Rome_Lazio.html

Although it is by the Piazza Campo Di Fiori, our room was completely soundproofed. They have two rooms on the top floor with balconies - facing East and West. I originally booked with Booking.com, but when I sent an email to the hotel saying it was our Silver Wedding and could we have a nice view, they offered us one of these two luxury rooms at a discount. The rooftop views are fantastic, with fabulous sunsets over St Peter's Dome.

Great location for seeing all the sights by walking. I bought some guide books and read them before we went, and planned each day. I also received info and tips on the Trip Advisor Rome forum. We saved hours of queueing by buying tickets for the Vatican Museums ( housing the Sistine Chapel ) in advance online. Also by visiting the Forum in the morning, and buying a combined ticket for the Forum and Colosseum, so we could go straight into the Colosseum afterwards, avoiding the long queue there.
There is not much shade in the Forum, so going in June it was much better doing that first.
We had some lovely meals in restaurants outside the Pantheon, around Piazza Navona ( with lots of street entertainers and musicians ) and also on Piazza Campo Di Fiori, by our hotel.

I lived in Rome for 10 years - miss it terribly. Trastevere is NOT QUIET btw. If you want sleep it can be really hectic there at night. A off the beaten track hotel in that area is Hotel Santa Maria in Trastevere. Google it. You could also try Rome Sweet Rome for short term rentals of lux apartments with terraces. ANy place looking onto a piazza means you do not sleep until at least two in the morning. Small back streets off the piazzas are a good rule of thumb. Promise yourselves a day in which you have no plan at all but just wander around, get lost, stop for coffee, stop for a long lunch and figure out how to get home. That will be the day you remember most!

God am so envious!

I must say that I was looking forward to our day walking round Trastevere, but was very disappointed when we got there. Santa Maria in Trastevere church is lovely, and very old, but there were many beggars in this area, sitting around the square, and even coming up to people sitting outside in cafes when the waiters weren't looking.
We did not see so much of this across the river in Campo De Fiori or at the sights.
Trastevere is fine for people who want to be further away from the main sights of Rome, but a longer walk for sightseeing of course.
I actually considered the Hotel Santa Maria that Branno mentions - it is rated # 22 out of 1271 hotels in Rome on Trip Advisor. but was glad that we chose Campo De Fiori location instead.
Our hotel is rated # 7 out of 1271 hotels on TA.
See this link for Rome hotels and theirr ratings, and read travellers' reviews, and see their photos.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotels-g187791-Rome_Lazio-Hotels.html
Many people who work in central Rome live in Trastevere.

Branno, I do envy you living there for 10 years - how fantastic.
But I promise you - even though our hotel was right next to Piazza Campo De Fiori, with restaurants, musicians, entertainers etc busy at night until the early hours - with our room patio doors closed, it was totally soundproofed - I even put my ear to the glass to test it, and couldn't hear a thing!

P.S. With no street noise to wake us in the mornings, we needed to take a good alarm clock, or we would have missed breakfast!
The curtains were well lined, and let in no light.