rayzen

we are hearing all different reviews must book hotel soon help

tuscanlifeedit

You don't mention specific hotels or your price range. Either location is fine, really. You could base your choice on the hotel that gives you the most for your money and has the best reviews here and on tripadvisor.com and other sites.

DRJ

I'd favor Spanish Steps because there is a Metro stop there.

tcreath

I agree with DJR. Staying near either one wouldn't really be at the top of my list of places to stay in Rome, but of the two I would choose the Spanish steps area. There are tons of restaurants and cafes nearby, and the metro stop is right there.

Tracy

rayzen

tracy where woud you stay and why we could spend up to 300.00 for the hotel thanks

MFNYC

Is that 300 US$ or Euro? And is it a room for 2? Either way, you should be able to find something nice in several good locations.

The preferred locations, typically recommended here are Piazza Navona/ Pantheon/Campo dei Fiori areas.

mariamack

We just got back from Rome. I thought our apartment was by the Spanish Steps, but it was by the Trevi Fountain. It was perfect for us. There is the metro bus that is an open top bus that takes you around and there is a stop bye the fountain. You can also walk about a mile to Termini Station. Have fun!

Nikki

These areas are not that far apart. We stayed near the Trevi fountain and used the metro at the Spanish steps; it was not a long walk. It was also a short walk to the Pantheon.

Myer

Look at a map. Inside the triangle connecting the Spanish Step, Piza Navona and the Fountain of Trevi (ok its not a nice triangle) is fine.

It's a 10-15 minute walk anywhere inside that.

You might be better close to the Fountain as that's closer to the Forum, Coliseum, etc.

But it really doesn't matter. The Vaqtican is more or less in the other direction.

We stayed at the Santa Chiara located directly behind the Pantheon and thought the location and hotel were great.

tcreath

Honestly its a fine area; I just prefer the area around Piazza Navona and the pantheon, as I find myself migrating to these areas a lot, especially at night. There are lots of great restaurants and cafes, and its withink walking distance of the Vatican and most other sights in Rome. After our first two trips to Rome, where we stayed outside the historic center a bit, we decided that we would rather stay in a more central area and ended up doing so when we were there in March. We were very happy with our decision.

I also will be honest again; I don't like Rome's metro. Actually I hate it. Its always extremely crowded, and it doesn't hit a lot of the main areas of Rome. Because of this I don't really feel a need to find a base close to a metro stop. Just a personal opinion. We use Piazza Navona as our base to explore the surrounding area. We use the bus system to explore areas that may be farther away. On top of being less crowded, I felt safer and I could look outside as we were traveling. There are tons of buses that stop around Torre Argentina (I may have that name wrong), which is fairly close to Piazza Navona.

Good luck!
Tracy

Mimar

I don't like either location, but at least they are in the historic center. Both places are very crowded with tourists. And I've never taken the Rome subway in several trips there.

I recommend the area around Campo dei Fiori/Piazza Navona/Pantheon. Look up hotels on www.venere.com. That site allows you to specify a budget and an area of the city. There are reviews there and on www.tripadvisor.com. Bear in mind every hotel will get some bad reviews and some rave reviews. Just look for the general tenor of the reviews.

sandi_travelnut

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34811259