Rome Hotel Tax: What it Costs & How to Avoid It

January 5, 2011 · Updated September 2026 · BootsnAll

You may have heard through the grapevine about Rome’s new hotel tax, approved in late December 2010 and scheduled to begin January 2011. Now that we’re a few days into 2011 and the tax is officially on the books, I wanted to make sure travelers in Rome know what the hotel tax is all about - what it will cost you, what it pays for, and how to avoid it.

Rome Hotel Tax Breakdown: What You’ll Pay

The new Rome hotel tax is based on how many stars a hotel has - more stars mean higher taxes. It’s calculated in euro, obviously, so the amount you’ll pay in your home currency will vary depending on the exchange rate when you visit Rome. The city has raised the rates several times since it started in 2011. Here’s roughly what it costs in 2026 (check the current table on the city’s tourism site before you go):

5-star hotels: about €10 per person per night
4-star hotels: about €7.50 per person per night
3-star hotels: about €6 per person per night
1-star & 2-star hotels: about €4 to €5 per person per night
B&Bs/apartment rentals: about €6 per person per night
Campsites: about €3 per person per night
Hostels*: not exempt

A few important notes about the Rome hotel tax:

As noted, it’s per person per night - so this tax would, for instance, add about €45 to a 3-night stay in a 4-star hotel for two people.
There is a maximum number of nights visitors can be taxed: 10 consecutive nights.
Children under the age of 10 are exempt.
You pay it to the hotel or host, often in cash, and it usually isn’t included in the price you booked.
This new tax is in addition to the 10% Value Added Tax (VAT) already included on hotels and other accommodation throughout Italy.

* When the tax started in 2011, officially registered hostels were exempt, and most places that called themselves hostels were registered as B&Bs or room rentals and charged the tax anyway. That exemption is gone: hostels in Rome charge the tax now too. Thanks to reader Sam and to Linda & Steve of The Beehive hotel in Rome for helping me clear through the confusion back then.

What the Rome Hotel Tax Pays For

A city councilor in Rome didn’t do himself or his city any favors by stating outright that “in order for the city of Rome not to tax Romans, we have decided to tax the tourists” - tourists already spend millions traveling in Italy, so it’s not unreasonable to feel put upon by this additional tax even without this kind of careless statement.
But if we can set aside the city councilor’s ineptitude for a moment, it’s important to know what the money generated from this new tax will pay for.
Many of the ancient and famous monuments that draw visitors to Rome in the first place are in dire need of repair work. The Italian government either doesn’t have the funds or has proven to be unable (or unwilling?) to take the necessary steps to keep these monuments from falling apart completely - one needs only remember the recent collapses at Pompeii to see evidence of that.
Rather than rely entirely on the Italian government, therefore, the city of Rome is taking matters into its own hands. The money that comes from this new hotel tax is intended to pay for repairs and restoration of the city’s ancient monuments. And since these are the very same monuments that are most often visited by tourists in Rome, it’s not outrageous to think we would help pay for their renovations.
Of course, the enormous question that remains to be answered is whether the money will go toward what it’s meant to - and you don’t need to be an expert in Italian government matters to know that’s a very big “if,” indeed. Additionally, one could argue that monuments in need of repair could just raise their own ticket prices so the connection between money raised and what it’s for would be more clear.
But since I’m not on the Rome city council and I suspect you aren’t either, we’re stuck with the hotel tax they implemented. Now we just need to figure out how to keep this additional expense from bursting our travel budgets. Which brings me to…

How to Avoid the Rome Hotel Tax (or At Least How to Pay Less)

If you’re planning to visit Rome and you don’t have kindly relatives or friends on whose sofa you can crash, you’re going to be facing the addition of the new Rome hotel tax to your accommodation bill. There are a few things you can do, however, to keep from paying the highest tax rates.

Skip Rome - If Rome is on your must-visit list (and you’ve got good reasons to have it there), this obviously isn’t the solution for you. If, on the other hand, you’re narrowing your destination options from a longer list of Italian cities and especially if you’ve already been to Rome before, this might be enough of a reason to pick a different city in which to base yourself. By choosing a less popular city, you’ll also benefit from lower hotel prices overall.
Stay Outside Rome - I don’t recommend this if your goal is to visit Rome’s many museums, attractions, and monuments, since you’ll spend too much time getting back and forth into the city from whatever just-outside-Rome city you’re staying in (not to mention what you’ll spend in transportation, which may negate the savings from the Rome hotel tax). But if you’re interested in exploring the Lazio region around Rome instead of the capital city itself, then by all means pick a town that’s outside the reach of the hotel tax.
Stick with Fewer Stars - As you’ll note from the breakdown above, the more stars there are attached to your Rome hotel, the higher the per person/per night tax rate will be. By choosing 1-star or 2-star hotels, Rome apartment rentals, B&Bs, or campsites (yes, there are campsites in Rome!) you’ll pay less for the Rome hotel tax. Learn more about what Italy’s hotel star ratings mean.
Stay in a Hostel: Hostels no longer get out of the tax, but a dorm bed in one of the hostels in Rome is still cheaper per night than most hotels, so your overall bill stays low. Pay attention to where it’s located: if it’s very far from the city center, you may spend your savings on transportation.

Further reading about accommodation in Rome:

photos, top to bottom, by: ChrisYunker, Eugene Regis, zak mc