Convenience of Trastevere lodging

It depends on how much time you plan on spending at the hotel and surrounding area. If most of your time will be spent seeing the sites then you might want to be closer to them. The piazza Navona area is a great area with lots of restaurants and it's relation to most sites. It's the one I'd choose but I don't spend much time at the hotel. Donna

Trastevere has pretty much already been discovered by tourists, but it's still really enjoyable. Go to Google maps to determine the distances between the hotels your considering and the sights you want to see. (Do a similar comparison to where you live to get an idea of distances. For example, I know that to walk from our apartment in Rome to St. Paul's is the equivalent of walking from our Seattle home to the Fred Meyer department store.) Rome is much more compact than most people realize and as long as you're in reasonably good shape, you can stay pretty much anywhere in the Trastevere to Spanish Steps area and see most things. That said, if it were my first time to Rome, I would choose to stay near Piazza Navona.

I would stay in the Piazza Navona area. We stayed in an apartment between Piazza Navona & Campo de Fiori areas & found it to be extremely central to most things. I'm probably in the minority of people that didn't find Trastevere to be as enchanting as many people describe. I much preferred the Piazza Navona area. Have a great trip.

My husband and I were in Rome for 10 days this summer. We split our time between The Beehive near the Termini train station and Arco del Lauro in Trastevere. We loved Trastevere for the reasons you described. The only hitch was Rome's relentless summer heat. It was about 94 degrees every day in July. This made walking to the sites much more difficult for us and we are folks who love to walk. If you plan on going to Rome in the summer and if this is your first visit to Rome, I would suggest staying near the Piazza Navona. If you plan on going in May or September, when it's generally cooler, then Trastevere would work.
Buon viaggio!

I typically stay in the Trastevere, and find that the distance is really no issue. It is a short walk to Campo di Fiori, and an easy walk to Piazza Navona and up to the Spanish Steps. Easy is my definition, but I find central Rome from the Trastevere very compact and a pleasure to walk. The Vatican, Termini, and the Borghese are a bus ride away, but even those are not far.

I would stay in the Piazza Navone. Trastavere is a bit gritty and further away from everything. Public transit in Rome is not great. Go to Trastavere in the evening and enjoy it, not much going on during the day.

Stay centered in the historical district of Piazza Navona because that's where you'll be spending most of your time sightseeing. For dinners or evening strolls you can venture over to Trastevere if you want. Personally I never saw anything special about Trastevere except it made my trek to historical sights longer. Chances are if RS talks about a "secret place" or "hidden gem" - it's now going to be exploding with tourists.

IMHO, it's Trastevere hands down. Not only is it a reasonable walk to St Peter's but also to many other sites, including Piazza Navona and its 9 euro glasses of beer at the cafes. The Forum and Campodiglio are an easy short cheap public transport ride away. And the shops, bars, trattorie e pizzarie are wonderful.

I have stayed at a small non touristy hotel. It is not far from the Train station Trastavere. It is the Hotel Monteverde & Austria Hotel. Real clean.

Victoria, While Trastevere is a bit "out of the way", it's a wonderful area and I haven't found it all that difficult to get from there to major sites (as I recall, I walked to the Pantheon, Musei Capotolini, etc.). There's no Metro access in that area, but there are Trams and other options. Happy travels!

I would choose Trastevere, mainly because having a nice meal at the end of a long day of sightseeing is important to me and I found more & better eating options in Trastavere than near piazza Navona. I didn't find Trastevere to be "gritty".