14 of the best affordable hotels in Rome under £150
Main photo: Generator Rome
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Best for access to green spaces Part of the Marriott megabrand, this four-star hotel compensates for its relatively far-flung location with the standard of service and facilities you'd expect at a major chain. You'll find a fully equipped fitness centre and two restaurants — breakfast is at Pineto, while the Moscati bistro's outdoor terrace is the spot for post-sightseeing sundowners. There's a restrained palette in the bedrooms, some of which have balconies with views of Rome all the way to St Peter's. It's half an hour by public transport to the Vatican City cathedral, but the vast greenery of Pineto Regional Park is right on your doorstep.
Spa NPool NPrice room-only doubles from £112
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Best for value The Generator brand is known for its design-led social spaces, and its Rome outpost doesn't let the side down. Guests can begin with a bargain buffet breakfast in the impeccably styled café, peppered with decorative tiles and pops of neon, and end with cocktails in a bar that falls somewhere between Chinese opium den and New York loft apartment. Set over seven floors, there's also a summer-season rooftop terrace. The 77 rooms include dorms as well as keenly priced private doubles complete with en suite bathrooms, attracting a diverse, all-ages clientele and generating (pun intended) a warm and inclusive atmosphere.
Spa NPool NPrice room-only doubles from £85
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Best for families This 41-room hotel close to Rome's Termini station is part of Best Western's Sure Hotel Collection. The look here is pretty traditional, with draped curtains in golden hues and a smattering of chandeliers, plus classically furnished bedrooms. There's a pillow menu for maximum comfort, and family rooms that sleep up to four — the grown-up and kids' quarters are partitioned. Set within the cobbled and ivy-strewn streets of the Monti district, it's a ten-minute walk to the Colosseum, so well placed for a pitstop to revive tired children.
Spa NPool NPrice B&B doubles from £122
Best for foodies Trastevere (meaning 'across the Tiber') is one of Rome's most picturesque neighbourhoods. A once working-class area resolutely on the up, its mostly car-free, maze-like lanes are now strewn with fashionable places to eat and drink. Keeping things old school is its namesake hotel, which prides itself on a traditional approach to hospitality. Guests rave about the friendly staff and the freshly baked pastries and blood orange juice served at breakfast. Rooms are comfortable, and the best overlook Piazza San Cosimato, known for its outdoor food market.
Spa NPool NPrice B&B doubles from £139
Best for couples This romantic small hotel provides the feel of an upmarket private residence. Guests arrive in a family portrait-filled lobby before being shown to one of 21 decadent bedrooms decked out with brocade fabrics and gilt mirrors. Some have balconies or Jacuzzi baths, but the most evocative is the secluded 'tower room' with 360 views over Rome, including nearby Circus Maximus. In summer, breakfast is served in a courtyard garden, but various extras can be pre-booked year round — including shiatsu massages and personal trainer-led running tours.
Spa NPool NPrice B&B doubles from £142
Best for architectural wow factor This address has serious kerb appeal, occupying the upper floors of an aristocratic palazzo that looks like it might've been lifted from the Accidentally Wes Anderson Instagram account. Inside the look is calm and restrained, its palette of creams and greys offset by pops of plum and teal. With just 20 rooms, staff are able to be super-attentive to guests, happily offering tips on their favourite spots in the neighbouring Monti district, ten minutes away on foot. It's directly opposite the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and many rooms have a view of the church.
Spa NPool NPrice B&B doubles from £129
Best for service The Lancelot's ivy-covered exterior feels like a gateway to another century, but it's the old-fashioned approach to service that really makes this family-run property stand out. Guests love the warm and attentive staff, with everyone from manager to maid going above and beyond. The hotel hosts regular 'round table' dinner events, while an all-day bar is open from morning espresso time to spritz o'clock. Rooms are simple, smattered with antique furnishings and Persian rugs, while private terraces on the upper floors offer Centro Storico views (it's a stone's throw from the Colosseum).
Spa NPool NPrice B&B doubles from £146Best for city-centre location Only a five-minute walk from Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, this hotel is unbeatably central and rather lovely to boot. It's spread across several floors of an 18th-century palace, and the look inside is classic — vaulted ceilings and exposed brickwork in the breakfast room, trompe l'oeil frescoes in reception, plus wooden flooring and furnishings. A lift will whisk you up to the hotel's secret rooftop 'Spritzeria', where Aperol is served with a view along the historic Via dei Serpenti. The resident mixologist also provides cocktail-making courses, focusing on drinks invented in Rome.
Spa NPool NPrice B&B doubles from £139
Best for inspiring interiors At this price it's rare to find a place that you might want to photograph and add to your home renovations mood board, but this hotel near Termini station employs the less-is-more approach to great effect. Guests are greeted at a reception desk housed in an ornate nook akin to a secular altarpiece, while velvet chairs dot the corridors and rooms are rendered in mood-enhancing shades such as calming sage green and soothing grey. The breakfast room is an unexpected aesthetic highlight, with vintage travel posters sitting above mid-century-style seating.
Spa NPool NPrice room-only doubles from £125
Best for transport links This hotel's exterior is replete with architectural flourishes, but only its guests get to enjoy a morning cappuccino framed by its caryatids and columns. Inside it's fifty shades of grey, from the marble-floored lobby to the feature walls, curtains and headboards in the bedrooms. It's petit by name and nature, and the best of its 21 rooms have balconies — you can take your breakfast there, or make a beeline for the buffet. One minute from the Repubblica metro station, from here the rest of Rome is your oyster. Start with a short hop north to Villa Borghese, Rome's most celebrated park.
Spa NPool NPrice B&B doubles from £127
Best for an inner-city sanctuary This characterful hotel is named after the painter and sculptor beloved by its owners, and his works dot the lobby. Set at the top of an anonymous side-street, the Modigliani is remarkably peaceful given its central location — an eight-minute walk from the Spanish Steps. Guests are greeted with a free welcome drink and snacks, served in a flower-filled outdoor courtyard or the art deco-inspired lounge. The 23 guest rooms have been recently renovated, and there's also a lovely two-bedroom apartment for families which can sleep up to six.
Spa NPool NPrice B&B doubles from £130
Best for facilities If you've got your heart set on a few laps before your flight home, consider booking one of the 316 spacious rooms at this resort near Fiumicino Airport. It's set within rolling gardens and surrounded by sun loungers, and the sizable swimming pool will add much-needed R&R to even the briefest Roman holiday. The sights downtown can be reached within half an hour by public transport or shuttle bus, but be sure to conserve enough energy to make use of the fitness centre, sauna and 27-hole golf course.
Spa NPool YPrice room-only doubles from £105
Best for peace and quietThis charming century-old property in the Nomentano neighbourhood used to count Mussolini among its neighbours — nearby Villa Torlonia was the Italian dictator's official residence during the 1920s and 30s. Still grand and smattered with green, the area now benefits from a metro stop that will get you to the sights in ten minutes. The hotel's pink and palatial exterior gives way to a chequered marble lobby and elegant, generously proportioned rooms, several of which have garden views. In fine weather, breakfast is served on a panoramic terrace, also an enticing spot for a sundowner.
Spa NPool NPrice room-only doubles from £137
Best for bar-hopping Channelling the high style of Italy's fashion capital Milan, this boutique hotel looks much more expensive than it is. Guests arrive in a chic lobby with fireplace, landscape paintings and art deco-style chandelier, while rooms are painted in pared-back ice cream shades. After a disco nap on premium linens, swing by Milani's on-site bar before heading on to nearby Santa Maria Maggiore, home to some of the city's best cut-price drinking holes. Close to Termini station, the property is a half-hour walk from the Roman Forum.
Spa NPool NPrice room-only doubles from £130
• Best things to do in Rome• Best hotels in Rome
Additional reporting by Hannah Summers and Louise Roddon
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Lovers, lunatics and 80,000 meatballs: adventures on sleeper trains
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After the Covid lockdowns 'many people were nervous to fly, booking private compartments and taking the time to explore closer to home', she writes. 'In 2022, Interrail had a record year of sales — and then I saw it, one line at a time, sleeper trains inching back out of the darkness.' Rajesh zips through moonlit mountain passes in Scandinavia and South America and takes city links in North America, Asia and Europe, routes that vary in quality, comfort and distance. On a press jolly on board the deluxe Belmond Andean Explorer to Arequipa, she enjoys pisco sours with a former Miss Peru and beds down on plush banquettes; in Turkey, she gets caught up in the maelstrom of the 2023 earthquake; and in the north of Norway, whistling through the land of the midnight sun, she enjoys a night train without night. 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Save 25% on your Railcard with our TrainPal discount code
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4 hours ago
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Ischia: The Italian Isle where locals cook in volcanic sand
Ischia is famous for its healing thermal waters, but the powers of its geothermal energy are less known – and they're hiding an ancient culinary tradition beneath the surface. I'm wandering through the village of Sant'Angelo on the Italian island of Ischia, searching for the footpath that will take me to the volcanic fumaroles on the isle's southern shore – and towards one of Italy's most unique meals. A shopkeeper points me to a stone staircase snaking up from an alleyway that climbs over the cliffs and mountains. The steep trail takes me past prickly pears and stucco villas, and as I trudge up to the clifftop, I admire the ink blue waters of the Gulf of Naples. On my descent to the fumarole-dotted beach, I approach the crescent-shaped Maronti Bay; umbrellas staked into ash grey sand. I'm soon ushered to a corner table on the terrace of the seaside restaurant Chalet Ferdinando a Mare. Basil and tomatoes perfume the air as bathers frolic in the sea. I order lunch and a glass of wine. Below the terrace is a patch of sand ringed by a fence. Danger signs glare in Italian and English: "Prohibited from entering to the unauthorised. Sand boiling 100C" (212F). These are the fumaroles of Ischia, where sands are heated to a boil by underground volcanic vapours. It's where my lunch is cooking right now. An island tradition Cooking meals in a fumarole is no culinary gimmick; it's Ischian tradition. "My father always cooked under the sand," says Fernanda Iacono, the chalet's owner. "It's something we do in this part of the island. We cook chicken, potatoes, octopus, vegetables, fish, mussels… anything that cooks at low temperature." Plan your trip: Get there: Take the hydrofoil or ferry from Naples to Ischia Porto, then the CD, CS, or 1 buses to the Sant'Angelo stop (45 minutes). It is only possible to reach the fumaroles by foot or by sea. Walk or hail a pedicab down to the village (€8). Take a private boat or catch the water taxi at the docks (five minutes); the path leading to Maronti Bay is found next to Ragno boutique (20-25 minutes). Approach from the east on foot via Maronti Beach. Do: Browse Sant'Angelo's posh boutiques, then soak at the Antiche Terme di Cavascura; a thermal spa carved into pumice rock. Ristorante Emanuela is open from April to November; Chalet Ferdinando a mare is open from June to the end of September. Reservations encouraged. Don't: Attempt cooking in the sand without the chalet's approval (or a local's assistance). Stay: The Miramare Sea Resort & Spa offers mesmerising sea views and full spa services. Ischia teems with fumaroles, but they're hottest in Maronti Bay. Generations of Ischians have come here to cook, wrapping their food and burying it in the sand, where the steam acts as a sous vide. "We'd have parties on the beach where we cooked under the sand. With music, too," reminisces Iacono, who runs the chalet with her children, Giorgio and Desideria Migliaccio, and her son-in-law, Angelo Russo. Islanders cook year round, but the tradition hits its zenith each summer. "All Ischians do it at least once a year," says Mariangela Mattera, an Experience Expert at Ischia-based tour operator FORADAY. "In summer, especially at sunset, we go to the beach, bury the food in the sand, and while it's cooking, we bathe in the sea, which is warm due to volcanic steam rising through the water." Cooking in the fumaroles takes insider know-how – the sand can cause serious burns. Luckily, select restaurants on the island specialise in "geothermic cuisine", allowing Ischia's summertime visitors to experience this cherished tradition themselves. Two of the most popular are Chalet Ferdinando a Mare and, just 65m away, Ristorante Emanuela, helmed by Sergio Iacono (no relation to Fernanda). "We've been serving food like this since I was a child," Sergio says. "Our place is nearly 60 years old. I remember seeing my father's photos from when he was young, when he was cooking [in the sands]", showing me goosebumps on his arms. "I get emotional." With two geothermic restaurants in such close proximity, there's inevitably debate about which began cooking in the sand here first. "My great-grandparents were the first to cook here," claims Desideria, Fernanda's daughter. "My family has managed the fumaroles since 1975." But she concedes that "Ischia belongs to the Ischians – everyone can cook here… as long as they behave respectfully!" The chalet, which opened in 2005 as an offshoot to the family's historic Hotel Ferdinando Terme, has no stove. "Just a griddle for making bruschetta," explains Desideria. "Everything we make is cooked in the fumaroles, preserving the flavours and nutritional qualities." Chicken is the classic protein; a historic staple of Ischia's family farms, says Russo: "People started cooking things like octopus later on." The chalet's menu offers traditional and modernised fumarole dishes, from chicken to calamari with sweet-and-sour onions. Sergio's menu leans more traditional: "mostly chicken and potatoes", he says. "Fish is made to order; sometimes the customer watches." He explains his latest sand-cooked dish: spaghetti with fumarole-steamed white octopus and potato ragù. Film crews are a common sight at both restaurants. "A Brazilian crew came. A Japanese one and a German one, too," says Fernanda. "They come because it's so unique." The uniqueness even surprises Italians. Gallery assistant Eleonora Cacialli – originally from Rome – only discovered the custom after moving to Ischia in the 1980s. "One evening, friends and I organised a dinner cooked under the sand, arriving by boat," she recalls. "We seasoned the chicken with oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Then we wrapped it in foil and placed it inside a pillowcase to prevent any sand from getting [inside]. [When] we opened the packets and saw the steaming food, perfectly cooked, it was astonishing. As a Roman, I'd had absolutely no idea something like this existed." This piping-hot sand isn't Ischia's only cooking pit. Further east, in rocky Sorgeto Bay, the water reaches 90C (194F), creating a locals-only natural thermal spa and stockpot. There are danger signs here, too, and bathers avoid the font, approaching just to deposit mesh bags of potatoes, corn and eggs. An island so volcanic, it's its own energy source. Ischia's volcanic gifts Ischia's seismic footprint is everywhere, from its healing thermal spas to the Ancient Roman settlement of Aenaria; sunk beneath the sea by an eruption 2,000 years ago. Though eruptions and mudslides are always a lurking possibility, Ischia's soil is especially fertile, lending rich flavours to its vegetation. The wine I order for lunch is also volcanic – made from grapes grown in igneous earth. Though no texts describing fumarole cooking in Ischia have been found predating the 21st Century, most locals believe it either derives from the Ancient Greeks – who founded the isle as their first Italian colony in 750BC – or the Ancient Romans; both of who embraced the island's volcanic properties. "It's one of the most ancient methods of cooking," Fernanda says. "At least for as long as the island has existed." The islanders' reverence for its fumaroles also comes from their distant ancestors. "Ischia's ancient inhabitants explained its volcanic phenomena through mythology," explains Mattera. "During the war between the giants and the Olympian Gods. Zeus hurled a rock at the giant Typhon, who fell off Mount Olympus and was trapped under the Mediterranean Sea by a boulder; that became Ischia. His struggling caused our earthquakes. His tears became our thermal waters. His angry breath, the fumaroles." Local geologist Aniello Di Iorio – founder of Eurogeopark geothermic tours – has a more formal explanation. "Ischia is on a caldera," he says. "The fumaroles are hot gases that come from its internal magma chamber, located about 2.5km below the island." Di Iorio often brings groups to see the fumaroles in the crater of Mount Rotaro. "We have them put their hand [nearby] so they can feel how hot the gas is." Di Iorio also takes tourists to Maronti Bay to demonstrate fumarole cooking: "With apples, not chicken; that takes too long. We add pine nuts, raisins and cinnamon. We wrap them in heat-resistant foil, wait 10 minutes and they're ready to serve." He adds: "Food cooked this way has a completely different flavour. It's much more delicate." In essence, Ischians have transformed something some might view as terrifying into something useful. As Di Iorio explained: "Volcanoes are Ischia's lifeblood." How to cook a chicken in the sand At the chalet, the lunch crowd begins to filter in, burnt from the Sun. Giorgio Migliaccio indicates the strings snaking out of the sand. "Each one's connected to a different dish," he says. "They have different cooking times. Chicken and octopus take about two and a half hours; same with potatoes and vegetables. Prawns and mussels, around 15 minutes. This happens inside hermetically sealed steel containers to keep out sand and other external agents. Look!" Russo has climbed into the pit with a shovel. He strikes, sand flies and he yanks the strings to haul up crates wrapped in yellow fabric. "When this type of cooking first started, they used cloth," explains Giorgio. "We've evolved, from a hygiene standpoint. Most people use foil now, but as a restaurant, we had to do some research to ensure food safety for the clients." A further nod to evolution: at Ischia's two-Michelin starred Daní Maison, chef Nino di Costanzo uses fumarole-inspired techniques; steaming cod in a copper pot with sea water and stones taken from Maronti Bay. Locals have their own standards. "Never go barefoot; that's the first rule," says Cacialli. "Wear gloves!" Ischians dig one hole per food item; creating a barrier between the food and the sand. "It's homestyle," Cacialli says. "Things have evolved – especially with restaurants that use this cooking style – but the technique has remained the same. Aluminium foil, seasonings, that's it." So how does food cooked in volcanic sand taste? I watch excitedly as Russo pulls my meal from the sand. It arrives on blue marbled plates: chicken and octopus in salsa verde, with a side of turmeric potatoes. The octopus is curled tight as a fist, bathed in green herbs. I'm delighted to find it extremely tender, and the chicken, too, is exceedingly juicy; fragrant with rosemary. The potatoes melt beneath my fork, bright yellow and earthily spiced. I may not have buried it myself, but today, I'm part of a summertime island tradition that celebrates a delicious coexistence with danger.
