The Best Spa Hotels to Book in Rome, Italy

The bold design throughout this new addition to the Rome hotel scene has proved a big hit with guests and locals alike. The pizzeria on the ground floor serves up some of the best pizzas in town and the rooftop gives you incredible views of the Vatican. Everything here is done with a sense of fun, from the adult gift boxes you can order to spice up your stay to the amusing messages staff leave in various places. The outdoor spaces are ideal for long summer nights, and there’s a sauna and pool in the basement that feels like a neon-lit throwback to the Roman baths of the past.

Set on the fringes of the leafy Villa Borghese park, with its genteel stately home full of art, Aldrovandi is a class act. It has a serene outdoor pool that’s a godsend in the steamy Mediterranean summers, and its Mytha SPA is a petite oasis with a hydrotherapy pool, steam room and sauna, as well as results-driven facials using Biologique Recherche products. Hedonism is encouraged here, as evidenced by the night-time spa sessions with candles and prosecco. Yes, please.

The palatial halls and world-class facilities of the Cavalieri make it a favourite with athletes from all over the world – indeed, this is where Serena Williams met her husband. There are three outdoor swimming pools and two tennis courts where you can take advantage of the Italian sunshine from spring to autumn, while the super-luxe, expansive indoor spa is inspired by the ancient Romans, all stone pillars, sculpted fountains and flickering fireplaces. Be aware that this hotel has US-style resort fees, and spa access isn’t automatically included for guests.

On the west side of the Tiber River, close to Vatican City, Villa Agrippina is slightly out of the tourist crush, so it’s the perfect setting for a spa break. The all-white, orchid-dotted My Blend by Clarins Spa is a real treat, with a full suite of thermal areas: saunas, steam rooms, sensory showers, an ice fountain and a vitality pool. Book a hot-stone massage to dissolve a few days’ worth of sightseeing fatigue.

The leafy restaurant terrace and candy-striped bedrooms at this hotel are every bit as invigorating as its spa, with a sexy, low-lit indoor pool, relaxation lounge and treatment rooms. The pampering sessions draw on global traditions from Indian Ayurveda to Indonesian jamu: try the Java Delight ritual for several treatments, including a coffee-based scrub, packaged up with a traditional spa bath.

This palazzo is the first hotel in Italy from Thai brand Anantara. It’s set beside Rome’s main station, Termini, so it’s brilliant for short breaks, and the iconic crescent-shaped neoclassical palace is a real showstopper. Hidden in its depths is the incense-scented Anantara Spa, with gilded Buddhist art, a steam room and a jacuzzi. Work up a sweat before your spa session in the hyper-modern gym.

In a swish location just off luxury shopping avenue Via del Corso, this cream-coloured townhouse hotel has one of the best hotel gyms in the city – certainly its most modern – which also offers running tours around the city, an open-air workout option and personal trainers on hand. Show off your trim physique on the glam rooftop with its white marble bar and potted shrubs.

Close to the Spanish Steps, the spa at this five-star offering is a stylish, earthy number with unpolished concrete walls and basket lanterns, lit by the luminous glow of its indoor pools. The Sicilian product range makes this one of the most Italian-infused spas in Rome: breathe in great lungfuls of orange blossom, olive oil and sea salt during deeply cocooning treatments, or be massaged by hot rocks from Mount Etna.

Set in one of the most upmarket, fashionable hotels in the city, the Hotel de Russie underground spa is a photographer’s dream – all bright cobalt mosaic and pounding water jets around its skin-nourishing saltwater hydrotherapy pool, with a wave-effect floor and boat-shaped white recliners to lounge on. Head-to-toe olive oil rituals and posture-fixing Thai massages await at the treatment rooms. Finish it all off with a neat French manicure – you’ll need it for posing in the elegant hotel courtyard at aperitivo hour.