When it comes to travel accommodation, I’m not usually the fussy type – as long as a place is clean, affordable and relatively close to everything I want to see, I’m happy. But my recent stay at a lovely little place in Rome has had me rethinking my criteria – it turns out that staying somewhere nice is pretty, well, nice. Shocking, I know.

I’ve always preferred city breaks to beach holidays, and often this means accommodation can be rather pricey, even for the most basic of hotels or apartment rentals. One thing this month’s Rome trip has taught me, however, is that visiting cities out of season is the way to go. Although it may not be appealing to sun-seekers, travelling outside of the tourist months has many benefits (hello, no queues!), one of which being that accommodation at the nicer end of the scale is so much cheaper.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when our taxi rolled up outside Relais Clivo Vaticano (well, when I say outside, I mean as close as our friendly driver could get – the hotel is set on a hill just outside the Vatican walls, so there were several steps to climb). We were pleasantly surprised by what we found beyond its unassuming gate – a little haven of calm in a hectic city, with stylish, contemporary decor and one of the prettiest gardens you ever did see. And all a walkable distance from Rome’s well-known sights (not to mention some great restaurants, too).As you might be able to guess from these photos, one of the highlights of our stay was the complimentary breakfast, which featured an array of delicious homemade cakes and pastries and was served in the bright conservatory overlooking the city – heaven. Getting used to having boring old cereal again is going to be seriously hard.

If you’re booking a stay in Rome (you lucky thing, you), I can’t recommend Relais Clivo Vaticano enough. As it’s more of a bed & breakfast than a hotel, it has such a personal, relaxed feel and we really felt at home there.

Stay tuned for the next post in my three-part Rome travel guide series, and follow me on Instagram for a few snaps from my Roman holiday.