Hotel San Anselmo

A little off the beaten path, in a residential neighborhood on the Aventine Hill, the Hotel San Anselmo is ideal for that most paradoxical of escapes: the big-city hideaway. Whether it’s a lovers’ weekend or just some time alone, it’s an undeniable fact that some of us would rather disappear to the city than the countryside — and a charming little boutique hotel like the San Anselmo is just the place to do it.

Though it’s an authentic 19th-century villa, the hotel’s current style is neither painstakingly period nor charmlessly contemporary. Antique furnishings and explicit historical references mix with graphic elements — poetry scrawled on walls, Bisazza mosaic tiles in bathrooms. It certainly doesn’t lack for personality, and we’ll take personality over design-catalogue minimalism any day.

If you’re looking for the typical Roman tourist experience, this might not be your place; while there are sights to be seen on the Aventine Hill — the Colosseum, for example, isn’t terribly far away — you might be better served by something more central. If you’re looking for an escape within the city, however, this is the place to do it, and get a taste of the residential side of Rome while you’re at it.