Arco Dei Tolomei Guest House

Bijou abode in a bohemian borough
Word to the wise: Charming owner Marco Fè d’Ostiani is a font of local knowledge, and a beacon of calm in a travel crisis.

Down a cobbled street in Trastevere, you would never guess Arco dei Tolomei was here if you weren't looking. But this is easily one of the city's most charming pensiones.
It's stuffed full of antiques, many passed down through generations. It's not over-styled like so many hotels, but the product of years of accumulation. The sunny dining room is decorated with oil canvases and a glittering chandelier. The wisteria-covered terrace is full of herbs and fruit trees from which Marco makes his own jams and cakes served to you at the sumptuous breakfast spread. While the bedrooms have an old country home feel to them with floral wallpaper, the bathrooms are modern and there is free wi-fi.

Staying here doesn't feel like going to a hotel, but more like visiting your aristocratic academic uncle for a weekend in Rome.