Rome - Staying in Trastevere vs Center

Our first and only trip to Rome so far, we stayed in Trastevere. It's about a 20 minute walk to the Colosseum and Vatican. We don't feel we missed out by staying there. In some ways I feel it enhanced the trip because we stayed in a residential neighbourhood and got to experience the locals going about their business.

We stayed at https://www.hoteltrastevere.it/en/. It was good, not great, but met our needs for a place to sleep. We were out 12 hours a day so didn't want to overspend for a place we wouldn't spend much time in. Next time we're thinking of https://www.hotelsantamariatrastevere.it/.

We usually stay in the historic center near Pantheon
This past trip (returned 5/13) we opted for Trastevere
It is not the quaint fun area it used to be
Overrun with tourists and partiers, noisy and busy

We stayed at this place which was lovely and a great location
But next time we’ll go back to historic center
https://vretreats.com/en/donna-camilla-savelli/#

To me Best is relatively relative, if you will. If you want to have a very short commute, that's a different priority than wanting a certain atmosphere when you step out your door. If you book ahead, you can have both, but it's usually quite pricey.

Trastevere is not as far as one might think by looking at the map. It does feel like it's own little place, but not an island. There's plenty of buzz. Unless you are going to focus almost exclusively on the Colosseum and Forum, it's more handy than Monti, if you ask me and I think most would agree the food is preferable. You can, of course, take the bus, but if you don't mind walking, you can get to the Colosseum or St. Peter's Basilica in 35 minutes (leisurely pace) or the Pantheon in 20 on foot (depending on the exact street you would stay on).

We stayed here with the RS Rome tour and loved this hotel and location. https://www.lancelothotel.com/ We spent time in Trastevere and had fun but glad we stayed at The Lancelot instead.

Travestere is not quaint. It is busy but has more of a neighborhood feel. It definitely is on tourists’ radar these days.

For our trip, which will be my husband's first time in Rome, we're going to stay in the central area.

Trastevere is very close to the center of Rome and just as historic and authentic. You can easily walk over the river and be in the centro storico within a half hour, but there's also plenty to see & do in and around Trastevere.

My family & I will be staying in an apartment in Trastevere for a week in July. On our last trip we stayed near Campo de' Fiori in the centro storico, which was lovely and convenient, but this time I wanted to share a different neighborhood with them (I lived in Rome in the 90s, but in the more residential neighborhoods of Trionfale & Quartiere Africano - not in the center). I don't think you could be disappointed staying in Trastevere.

This is a good question. It just depends on how well connected you want to be by public transportation. I like to walk a lot, but always appreciate being near a Metro station as I use that form of transportation often . There are trams that run regularly between Trastevere and the center of the city (begin/end near Piazza Venezia). I don't think you could go wrong either way. And, of course, there are always buses available, too. I usually stay in the Monti district as it's within easy walking distance of many sights and served by the Cavour metro stop.