TexasAggie

Hi Folks,

It's good to be posting again after a hiatus - I hope you are all well!

We just booked our 9th trip to Italy (second with both boys along for the fun), and will be flying out of FCO in Rome. Here's the quandary. Normally, with an 11:15am departure out of FCO, I'd spend the final night of the trip in our beloved apartment steps from the Pantheon and take an early taxi to the airport. *However*, we will have rental cars on our hands (two of them, as the grandparents are joining us). We will be driving in from the Assisi-area on Sunday, 7 June, and need to spend the night somewhere near FCO. Then return the cars in the morning on the 8th, check in for flights, and depart at 11:15am. So while we love, love, love historic Rome, it doesn't seem to fit practically into this trip.

Suggestions for where to stay that's close to FCO (and easy to navigate early on a Monday morning)? Our sons will be 2 and 4 years old, respectively. We have visited Ostia Antica a couple times but I didn't see much in the way of accommodations in the town. I believe there is a beach somewhere close but don't know how nice it is, how the accommodations are, nor how the drive to FCO would be in the morning.

Budget - 250E or less per room, preferably, and I'd love to come in under since this is just a short overnight stay. Apartments are always a plus with young kids, but I'd be surprised if anyone wanted to rent for one night only. We don't need a quad room - we do 2 doubles when staying in hotels.

Many Thanks for any and all suggestions!
Best,
TA

socialworker

I wish I had some info to share, TA, but since I see you so infrequently, I just had to say hello even though I don't know any hotels. How great that you are continuing your travels with your little ones! I always remember your planning your honeymoon with their daddy, all those years ago!!

Flame123

I have stayed several times at the Hilton Garden Inn AT the airport and depending on when you book and what the time of year is, you can get some really good prices sometimes (I just heard from a friend that spend a Saturday night there about a month ago that got an incredible deal of about 70 Euros!!). It is a modern and comfortable hotel and they have a shuttle bus that will take you into the airport terminal when you need it (but you MUST register for the shuttle when you check in to ensure room). I would return the car BEFORE checking in and make sure I have taken care of that even if I needed to take a short taxi ride to the hotel and then just spend a leisurely and relaxing evening there. There IS nothing to do there but that did not matter to us. The beds are comfy, the rooms are clean and that was all I needed. Good luck.

bvlenci

There is a Hilton right at the airport, but it's not the Hilton Garden, which is off site. The Hilton right at the airport is more expensive, but it might be within your budget, and it's certainly convenient to be able to walk to to the terminal.

There is at least on hotel in Ostia Antica, but not right in the town. There are also several B&Bs. There are lots of hotels in Ostia Lido (where the beach is). The beach is not among the top beaches in Italy, but it's all right. It tends to be overcrowded in the summer, but June 7th is before the season. There are also hotels in the town of Fiumicino, where (so I've heard) there are some good seafood restaurants at the port.

I've only stayed near the airport when a guest of an airline that made me miss my connection, so I can't give any specific recommendations. I suggest you look on www.booking.com with Fiumicino (or Ostia) as your destination. You can sort by guest rating; when you have a short list, read the reviews.

Flame123

The Hilton Garden Inn IS in part of the airport (the further away from the terminals area, more of where the freight part of the airport is located), as I wrote above. It is NOT off site, if off site means it is not inside the airport. It is not exactly at the terminal areas where the regular Hilton is, but from my experience, that Hilton near the terminals is usually prohobitively expensive rates. But you can certainly try and see if they also have some discounted rates at your time of travel. I have stayed there once also and it is also very comfortable, clean and convenient. Just not doable for my budget usually.

His_Dudeness

We stay at the Holiday Inn Rome-EUR Parco dei Medici which is right at the GRA and has a shuttle into the city and to the airport. It's usually less than 150 euros. We have also returned our rental car there.

bvlenci

Excuse me, I thought the Hilton Garden was off site; it's a big airport.

If the Hilton Airport Hotel is too expensive, I'd rather stay in Ostia (part of Rome) or in the town of Fiumicino, where there are at least some decent restaurants and a little port, instead of in those wastelands of freight terminals, long-term parking lots, and rental car agencies, where the airlines put me up when I miss a connection. The center of Fiumicino is less than five miles from the departure terminals. Ostia Lido is about 7 miles from the airport, and Ostia Antica would be a bit closer.

You probably know this, but if your flight is going directly to the US on a US carrier, you have to depart from Terminal 5. In that case, you wouldn't be able to walk to the terminal from the Airport Hilton. The drivers could drop you all off there before returning the rental cars, or you could take the shuttle from Terminal 3, which is right outside the Airport Hilton. In any case, if you're leaving from Terminal 5, there's no particular advantage to staying at the Airport Hilton.

TexasAggie

Thank you all so much for the advice and suggestions! We do have a direct flight back to the US with Delta/codeshare KLM. I hadn't looked into the logistics of the Airport Hilton and appreciate the head's up about its location.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn years (and years) ago and I recall it being convenient. It's definitely inexpensive. I'm intrigued by Ostia Lido, as I think the boys would really enjoy even a short amount of play time at the beach. We live in landlocked Dallas these days. I'll check into B&Bs there and in Ostia Antica.

Hi socialworker! How are you? I hope 2014 has been kind to you and wish you all the best in the upcoming year! DH and I returned to Venice this past June for our 10th anniversary. My folks joined us on the trip and so we had a bit of time to wander around with just the two of us and reminisce about our honeymoon back in '04 .

sandralist

For me one of the problems with Ostia Antica -- in addition to there not being an adequate hotel for you -- is the route to the airport. It is not straightforward. Ostia Lido is marginally better.

Although the Hilton right at the airport works for me, I don't think I would want to be navigating toddlers and luggage through the pedestrian path to the terminals. It is actually quite a long walk, and only tolerable, I think, if you are doing carryon by yourself or a couple.

I don't know if the Rome Marriott hotel gets good reviews, but it has a pool and is a 15 minute drive to the airport in fairly straightforward fashion. Might work for your family and is probably in your budget.

sandralist

Sorry -- the particular Marriott that I am referring to is the Rome Park Marriott, on via Colonnello Tommaso Masala, just off the E80.

TexasAggie

Hi sandralist, thanks for the tip. I will check out the Rome Park Marriott. Access to a pool would be great. The budget is flexible... I just kind of hate to spend a lot on a hotel we may only spend 12 hours in, especially since we book two rooms for the 4 of us.

I will also look into Ostia Lido and see what there is in the way of B&Bs. We use GPS and don't mind a bit of a circuitous route, but our one and only drive through a big city (Athens and its suburbs that go on forever) turned us off to trying to drive much in capital cities and surrounds.

bvlenci

Ostia Lido has numerous hotels, not only B&Bs. Ostia Antica, on the other hand, has, as far as I know, only one real hotel. It's more of a residential neighborhood surrounding a very small medieval center.

bilboburgler

Ostia Lido solves it, just across the river.

TexasAggie

Thank you again for all of the helpful information and advice. I've sent an inquiry to B&B Barcchetto Romano - http://www.barocchettoromano.com/ in Ostia Lido. Assuming they have no other bookings for that date, we could rent all 3 rooms and have the entire B&B to ourselves. I think it will be well under budget, and looks quite nice. Parking may be the only hiccup. The hotel website says there is free public parking close by. That's always a rather relative term however ;-)

TexasAggie

Barcchetto Romano has availability and we can rent the entire place (3 bedrooms, 3 baths, kitchen, breakfast included) for 360E. It may be a bit pricey for the area, but it's within our budget and should have the space we need with two little ones, plus easy beach access. And it's a heck of a lot cheaper than 3 rooms at the Airport Hilton.

socialworker

Sounds like a great plan!!

kybourbon

If that doesn't work out, here's a list of FCO hotels. Scroll down to the map and you can see the locations (they are numbered on it). May be a bit out of date so you will need to check links are still valid.

http://www.roninrome.com/hotels-spas...he-fco-airport