Where to stay in Rome: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

The bend in the Tiber holds Rome's most enchanting quarter. Piazza Navona's fountains, the colossal dome of the Pantheon and the morning market on Campo de' Fiori are all a few minutes apart, linked by ochre lanes where every second doorway is a trattoria or a wine bar. Via Giulia, laid out in the Renaissance, is one of the loveliest streets in the city, and the Vatican is a walk across the river.

Hotels tend to be small and full of character: a five-star in a 17th-century palace steps from the Pantheon, a discreet townhouse inside the noble Palazzo Borghese, a boutique hotel on Via Giulia, and rooftop terraces with views over the domes. It is busy by day and buzzing by night, so ask for a room away from the street if you sleep lightly.

The Spanish Steps cascade down from the church of Trinità dei Monti to Piazza di Spagna, and the streets at their feet, Via Condotti above all, are lined with Italy's biggest fashion names. The Trevi Fountain is a short stroll away, and the whole quarter has a polished, cosmopolitan feel.

This is where Rome keeps its grande-dame hotels. One sits right at the top of the Steps, another is a reimagined 18th-century palazzo beside them, and a third hides on a quiet side street off Via Condotti. A former theatre turned grand hotel completes the set.

It's not the cheapest corner of the city, and it's busy, but for location and old-school glamour it's hard to beat.

Piazza del Popolo, the great oval square at the northern gate of the old city, is the start of the Tridente: three straight streets fanning out towards the Spanish Steps and the centre. Between them lie art galleries, antique shops and some of Rome's most elegant hotels, with the Pincio terrace and Villa Borghese just above.

Stay in a five-star with its own hidden garden between the Spanish Steps and the piazza, a Relais & Châteaux hotel in a 16th-century building on Via di Ripetta, a palazzo with an outdoor pool, or a contemporary art-filled hotel on a street known for its galleries. It feels calmer than the Spanish Steps while being barely five minutes away.

Few hotel views anywhere compete with the Colosseum at dawn. This is the archaeological heart of the city, with the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill and the Imperial Forums laid out between the amphitheatre and Piazza Venezia's wedding-cake monument.

Several hotels make the most of it: a boutique hotel whose windows and terrace look straight at the Colosseum, a newer five-star on the edge of the Imperial Forums with ruin views from some rooms, a spa hotel within ten minutes' walk of both the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain, and a Six Senses a few minutes from Piazza Venezia. Stay here and you can beat the crowds into the Forum with an easy morning stroll.

Via Veneto was the stage for La Dolce Vita, and its curving avenue of grand hotels and cafés still carries a whiff of 1950s glamour. It climbs to the walls of Villa Borghese, the city's great park, where you can hire bikes and rowing boats, and book ahead for the Borghese Gallery's Berninis.

The hotels are big, stately and comfortable: a historic building that once housed the American Embassy Library, a Baroque-style palace overlooking Villa Borghese, an urban resort with a vast spa beside the park, and a Sofitel with a rooftop restaurant. It's a calmer base, with space to breathe, and still a walk from the Spanish Steps.

The streets around Termini aren't Rome's prettiest, but they're its most convenient. The airport trains leave from here, both main Metro lines meet here, Santa Maria Maggiore is around the corner, and Piazza della Repubblica's great fountain is a short walk away. The Colosseum and Trevi Fountain are reachable on foot too.

There are bargains a few streets back, and some surprisingly grand addresses: a palace on Piazza della Repubblica overlooking the Fountain of the Naiads, a five-star close to Santa Maria Maggiore, a Hyatt on the Esquiline beside the station, and a tiny six-room hotel just off Via Nazionale. Stick to the streets west of the station and you'll be well placed.

With an early flight, a night near Leonardo da Vinci airport can save a lot of stress. One hotel is linked to the terminal by moving walkway, with a shuttle into Rome in about 30 minutes, and others sit a few kilometres away near the sea, with pools and airport shuttles. Fiumicino's own small historic centre has seafood restaurants, and the ruins of Ostia Antica are close by.