Hotel Ripa Roma

The other one

Trastevere has two hotels in this comparison. We searched 414 Rome properties to find that out, and everything else on that side of the river is apartments and B&Bs with thin review histories.

So the real question here is not whether this property beats the field. It is how it differs from the one other option.

	Donna Camilla Savelli	Hotel Ripa Roma
Rooms	99	199
Guest score	9.2 (2,227)	8.3 (2,888)
Position	Janiculum slope, uphill	River side, flat
Building	17th-century convent	Purpose-built
Rooms above two	triples, family rooms	triples, family rooms, suites

Two things fall to this one: the ground and the scale. Via degli Orti di Trastevere sits on the flat near the river, so the walk back from dinner in the lanes is level rather than up the hill. And 199 rooms in a neighbourhood with two hotels is the difference between having a choice in August and not.

The guest score falls the other way, clearly — 8.3 against 9.2.

Rooms — 199 of them, and suites the other one does not have

Family rooms, triples and suites. Twice the room count of the neighbourhood’s other hotel, and the only one of the two listing suites.

In a neighbourhood with two hotels, 199 rooms is the difference between having a choice in August and not. Rome fills up and Trastevere has almost no hotel stock to absorb it.

Confirm the bed configuration rather than the room name. There is no dominant complaint about the rooms in the sample we read — with 2,888 reviews behind an 8.3, the sensible move is to read the newest ones and form your own view.

Facilities — bar, gym, restaurant and a business centre

The fuller list of Trastevere’s two hotels, and breakfast is the strongest pattern in the sample at seven of twelve reviews. Staff come up four times.

The real facility is the ground. Via degli Orti di Trastevere sits on the flat near the river, so the walk back from dinner in the lanes is level rather than up the Janiculum — which is the one thing its higher-scoring neighbour cannot offer.

Termini at 3.4km is the number to plan around. The Leonardo Express runs only from there, so either build the transfer into your departure or take a taxi straight to Fiumicino.

What the distances mean here

	Distance
Colosseum	2.1km
Pantheon	2.0km
St Peter’s Basilica	2.7km
Roma Termini	3.4km
Fiumicino Airport	21.2km

Nothing is close and nothing is far. That is Trastevere: a bridge from the old city, a bridge from the Vatican, and a long way from the station. If the reason you are here is the evening across the river, the numbers are the price of it and they are not unreasonable.

Termini at 3.4km is the thing to plan around. The Leonardo Express runs only from there, so either build the transfer into your departure or take a taxi straight to Fiumicino, 21.2km away.

Within the review sample, staff come up four times and cleanliness twice, with no recurring complaint that would explain the 8.3 on its own. With 2,888 reviews behind it the number is settled, so the sensible move is to read the newest ones and form your own view of the rooms.

We have not stayed here. These are patterns across the guest reviews on the booking page, read on the date below.

Before you book

• 199 rooms, four stars. Family rooms, triples and suites are listed — confirm the bed configuration rather than the room name
• Check-in 14:00, check-out 12:00
• Bar, gym, restaurant and business centre are listed — the fuller facility list of Trastevere’s two
• City tax is collected at check-out and scales with the star rating, and sits outside the rate you booked (the bands are on the Italy page)

Both of the neighbourhood’s hotels are set side by side in Trastevere hotels.