We stayed at Palazzo Caruso on our recent weekend trip to Rome in January of 2025. This was the second time that we’ve stayed here, and though it has not been renovated since 2019, the rooms are still quite fresh and comfortable. We love Palazzo Caruso for it’s location, price, and the fact that you are made to feel like a part of the famiglia while here!

The Location

Palazzo Caruso is located right in Piazza Barberini, an extremely central location to most tourist attractions around the Central Historic area of Rome. Technically, the hotel is located in the Trevi neighborhood, and is less than a 10 minute walk to Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, as well as the Spanish Steps and Villa Borghese. If you are here in Rome Caravaggio hunting like we are, it’s an easy walk to the Church of San Luigi de Francesi, Basilica of Santa Maria del Poppolo, Palazzo Barberini, and the Church of Sant’Agostino from here. Galleria Borghese is a 5 minute cab ride or about a 25 minute walk. There is a metro station right around the corner.

Even though this hotel is on a very busy square, with rooms overlooking the Triton fountain by Bernini, the rooms are extremely quiet. They definitely invested in good insulation and very solid, multi-paned windows to block out the noise. We love the location, and feel like home when we visit here!

The Amenities

Like a lot of boutique hotels, Palazzo Caruso is pretty slim on amenities. They do offer breakfast on the top floor, and when the weather is nice, the views from the patio where you can enjoy a leisurely breakfast are lovely. The breakfast itself is relatively basic. They will prepare eggs for you any way you like, and there are different plates of pastries and breads set out in the open. There is also a selection of cereal and yogurt, as well as several carafes of different types of juice. Coffees are made to order.

The management of the hotel is attentive, and will help you book transportation to and from the airport if necessary. They are also more than willing to assist with booking reservations for restaurants and other tickets, if needed. If you need recommendations on where to go, they haven’t led me astray! Since we were repeat customers, they provided us a complimentary bottle of wine on arrival – a very lovely touch!

The Room

I booked a Superior Room with a View, however we were upgraded to the same suite we stayed in previously, which is a Suite Panoramic View, which included not only the large bedroom, but also a living room with couch, chairs and a large table. Our three nights here cost only 826 Euros, which was the per night cost of our hotel in Paris!

The room itself is quite comfortable, and while the bed is very firm, we slept extremely well each night. The furnishings are an eclectic mix of modern and antique, with lots of details like collections of antique lighters or jewelry boxes on the tables and dressers. The ceilings in many of the rooms are painted and beautiful. The couch in the sitting room could probably use a refresh, as the cushions are starting to get misshapen and worn. I would note that when we were here five years ago, this room was combined with the Superior Room next to it (via the removable bookcase), for a large, double suite, which was awesome for us and our two teenagers.

I would note that even though this is the largest type of room that you can book at this hotel, it has the smallest bathroom. Honestly I would generally prefer a smaller room and a more comfortable bathroom and shower most times, but the bathroom in this suite was adequate. The shower is extremely tiny, though, and has a rain shower head that takes up the space of the entire shower, which is annoying when you can’t get out from under it. The shower also leaks into the rest of the bathroom, which is a bit irritating as well. For our short stay it was fine, but for longer stays, I would recommend booking the Superior room with view, since the shower and bathrooms are larger and more comfortable.

The Vibe

The vibe here is quiet and homey – like you are actually living here in Rome and your place is a nice, well-appointed, small apartment in the middle of it all. We never saw anyone else here at this small, 12 room hotel apart from the manager, a few workers, and the Chef in the kitchen for breakfast. The vibe is more Air B&B than hotel, but it helps make you feel like you’re truly a part of this Eternal City.

The Recommendation

While there are probably many, many more fancy places to stay in Rome, nothing beats the location and easy-going, homey, boutique feeling here at Palazzo Caruso. The very reasonable prices here, coupled with the comfortable, large rooms, make staying here whenever we come to Rome an easy choice.