goingtobeijing

I am researching a trip to Italy, because of the dismal state of the dollar, I am having a hard time finding a place to stay in Rome. I am looking for something centrally located, in a safe area, with private bathroom. I am not familiar with the city and I will be travelling by myself. My budget is US$100, per night. What suggestions do fodorites have?

Thanks in advance.

Packed2Go

Give this website a try - http://www.hostelbookers.com. They offer hostels and tourist class hotels for very reasonable rates.

Girlspytravel

Going-With your budget, and wanting a private bath is probably going to depend on the season-and your best chance of getting a nicer room at that rate would be to go in winter-late November, January-February time period. Try the HOTEL ITALIA, which is very well located off the Via Nationale, very near Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain about a 15 minute walk, located around good local restaurants. Single w/bath 60E, (low season), on Via Venezia. very nice staff and very clean rooms with a good price/quality ratio

Your other option is to look for convent rooms-however, with the low dollar, most of the private convent rooms with bath will run around Euro 50-70-which could be just over your budget, and there would be a midnight curfew as well. Best to try and find a hotel room around the Esquilino area near Via Nazionale/Cavour in low season for your budget. Try www.venere.com to get an idea of what is available in your price range.

roussillon

This site is reliable for safe choices in the budget category;

www.eurocheapo.com

The name sounds funny, but they constantly update selections after check visits. My niece stayed in one in Barcelona, and it was good value, safe and fun. Rouss

worldinabag

Hi

Try Hotel Panda - www.hotelpanda.it

mimi052347

If you are staying a week, www.sleepinitaly.com has a few sales going on. You would have a kitchen with an apartment, so you could save money being able to fix some of your own meals. It is as others have said, depends on when you go. We will be getting into the start of season, and a lot of places are rented. It is alot more costly now. But in the late fall or winter is a lot cheaper. You are looking at about 60 euros a night. thats tough. Good luck

Girlspytravel

Hotel Panda, which is a good budget hotel in Rome's historical center, is still over the poster's budget. They have singles with bath in their low season for 75 Euro, which is about US 118.

As for the hotels listed on "Euro Cheapo" for Rome (as opposed to other European cities) you'll find that they are almost all over your budget, particularly in the high season. Surprisingly, they're not so "cheapo" and it's because they are linked to more expensive hotel search engines.

Really, venere.com is your best bet, because it has some of the best rates for hotel accomodations in Rome at the 50-60 Euro range, and it will give you location and hotel reviews as well as instant availability for your time period.

If you are willing to go with a room without bath, then your options are a little broader. Hotel Panda has single rooms without bath for 68 Euro, but that's still a bit over budget.

Check the convent rooms here:

http://www.santasusanna.org/comingTo...html#R-vatican

jay

try the hotel Des Artistes.

Girlspytravel

One more place I can tell you about which is a place only for women, located in lively Trastevere, and only for women "Casa Internationale delle Donne" -"International House of Women"- lovely former 14th century convent, this place has everything: bar, restaurant, library, theater, they have all sorts of lectures, music concerts going on, they have single rooms with bath and w/o, or you can share rooms. It's a great place for a solo female traveler who wants to go to Rome on a budget, who wants to meet other people, in a very safe place. They are very friendly here-I've not stayed here, but I have communicated by email with them, they're very nice and helpful by e-mail, and their website has an English translation (I think their English is good-but I wrote in Italian). This is a good place to stay for younger inexperienced female travelers to Rome, or any female traveler on a budget, and it is quite atmospheric, as you can see from the pictures.

http://www.casainternationaledelledo...foresteria.htm

Girlspytravel

P.S. Hotel des Artistes, Jay, runs around 100 Euro/nt. single, in low season. The poster is looking for BUDGET accomodation, under US100!!

Girlspytravel

error in website, should be: http://www.casainternazionaledelledo...foresteria.htm

mcnyc

Try http://www.romeby.com and plug in your dates. Good luck.

goingtobeijing

Thanks for all the great feedback.

I didn't state what my travel dates are, because I myself don't know. Italy is definately on the agenda, I am hoping for a good seat sale or a last minute deal on a charter airline.

Realistically, seat sales on regular airlines will be for travel in October and November. On the charter airlines, last minute bookings will be for flights in summer. The last minute booking on charter airlines depending on how full the plans are, I've been looking at airfares to Italy since 2005 (I've been hoping to go for a long time) and off and on it is possible to get discounts of 50%.

I thought I'd pick a few hotels and once my flights are organized I can see which hotels are available for my travel dates. At least that's the plan. I understand that prices vary depending on high season and low season.

Cheap charter airfare in summer = more expensive hotels; or
Discount airfare on regular carriers in fall (this is usually more then the charter airline's last minute deals) = cheaper hotels. So, I guess the total trip cost will be similar depending on the season.

I looked at bidding for travel, to check prices on winning Priceline bids, but everything is out of my price range.

I don't speak Italian and I will be travelling solo. I am not familiar with Rome and I am looking for a safe and convenient area to stay. I've been intersted in making this trip for several years, but it just keeps getting put off. I hope 2008 is the year for my long delayed trip to Italy.

WillTravel

Hotel Julia, for a "single economic" room. The rate will vary by season, though, so may be more than $100USD at certain times.

kybourbon

Are you looking at Eurofly for flights? There have been good and bad reports about them.

Try looking on www.itasoftware.com for flights. You can search by month for cheapest fares. You don't have to register to search flights, just click on through.You can't purchase from them since they are just a search engine.

You can find cheap flights in and out of Zurich. There are often "smart" train fares between Zurich and Milan for 19€. If you prefer to rent a car, it can be cheaper to rent in Switzerland and return the car there.

Another alternative gateway for flights is Nice which is a very short train ride to Italy.

>Cheap charter airfare in summer = more expensive hotels<
This isn't true for the many cities in Italy from mid-July- August. You will find many discounted rates because the Italians are on vacation and flee the heat of the cities.