Hotel Albergo Santa Chiara

What began as a wine shop in 1939, is now the mid-range Albergo Santa Chiara, a well-maintained hotel that offers guests a competitively priced stay a few hundred feet from the Pantheon. With a weathered exterior and entrance set on a cobblestone street, this quaint four-story hotel -- that's been in the Corteggiani family for generations -- is made up of three adjoining buildings. Photos of Roman architecture hang in carpeted hallways. The lobby has charming, homey features including marble floors, a Murano glass chandelier, antique light fixtures, and vaulted ceilings, though some furniture is on the drab side. This small hotel offers four elevators and a lovely spiral staircase. Most guests are leisure travelers who forgive some of the lack of character for cozy rooms, good value, and a central location. 

This hotel is situated in the center of historic Rome, located less than 900 feet (300 meters) from Rome's Pantheon and beside the Piazza della Minerva. This popular tourist area is conveniently surrounded by restaurants, pubs, shops, and cafes. The Trevi Fountain can be reached in 11 minutes on foot. The Colosseum is within a 20-minute walk. With the Largo Torre Argentina bus station close by, the Vatican can be reached in 30 minutes. Riding the bus to the Museo e Galleria Borghese, near the River Tiber, takes 20 minutes. The Leonardo da Vinci International Airport is a 40-minute drive away.

The best rooms and suites at this hotel are simple and elegant with hardwood floors, leather headboards, dark-stained wood furniture, and tan-striped curtains. Other rooms are old-fashioned in appearance with traditional wooden furniture and dated carpeting. Standard Rooms offer single, queen, or king beds. Superior Rooms have sofa beds and can fit up to three people. Quadruple Rooms and Suites offer two sofa beds and king beds or two single beds. Every Suite has a terrace, and rooms with balconies can be requested. All rooms have flat-screen TVs, free Wi-Fi, safes, air-conditioning, and mini-fridges with water. Travertine-tiled bathrooms have hairdryers, bidets, heated towel racks, and showers or shower/tub combos. Apartments with kitchens can also be requested.

The Albergo Santa Chiara’s breakfast room is charming with wooden walls and buffet counters that have a free breakfast spread of fruit, breads, eggs, yogurt, coffee and tea, and other items. There’s plenty of brown booth seating under domed ceiling lights in the dining room. In the lobby there's a small bar, but there's no full restaurant on-site serving other meals. Surrounded by a green hedge, the terrace offers outdoor seating under umbrellas and has ashtrays for smokers. The front desk can help with arranging airport transfers, museum tickets, or storing luggage. Wi-Fi is provided in rooms throughout the common areas for free.