Jboz1

Hi All,

First an foremost, thanks for all the great advice in our trip planning. We decided to go it alone, skip the guided tour. We are using a travel agent for air, hotel and train. My only concern is staying Hotels NOT in the center of the cities. We are planning 5 days in Rome, 3 in Florence and 3 in Venice. We would appreciate and welcome any hotel recommendations in theses cities. Any good eating spots would also be of great interest to us as well.

P.S. Our travel agent is looking into a company called Trading Places for Hotel and Train transfers...anybody familair with this company and any pro's or cons.

Thanks again...we are pulling the trigger anyday now...

look forward to reading th responses
JBoz

ira

Hi J,

Are you sure that you need a TA?

Airfares are at www.kayak.com and www.mobissimo.com, among others.

Train schedules, prices and tickets are at www.trenitalia.com.

Transfers from trains to hotels can easily be accomplished with taxis; from airports to hotels with taxis or shuttles.

What's your hotel budget?

Tim_and_Liz

Jboz1

I agree you don't really need a TA.

What is your hotel budget per night?

MFNYC

You can easily book hotels yourself. There is really no need to use a travel agent for that. If you provide a budget, dates (prices vary by season), and if the room is for 2 (or more, prices vary by number in the room), people here can give you some very good suggestions.

JeanneB

jboz:

What did you mean by this: <i> My only concern is staying Hotels NOT in the center of the cities. </i> Do you mean you do want hotels in the center (as most here would suggest)?

You might re-post the basics about your trip...when are you going and are you still taking two teenage sons? What is your budget?

MaureenB

I don't understand your question: &quot;We are using a travel agent for air, hotel and train. My only concern is staying Hotels NOT in the center of the cities.&quot;

Do you want to stay in the center, or not? I would think you do want to be in the center. Either way, you don't need a travel agent, if you have the time to ask questions on this forum, and search it for specifics on hotels. There are many nice hotels in these three cities, and lots of help on this forum to find them.

I visited Rome, Florence and Venice for the first time last May, and had no problem reserving hotels myself, with advice from this board and tripadvisor.com.

In fact, here are my trip reports:
Florence-- http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34813784

Rome-- http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34813272

Venice-- http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34814606


Good luck in your planning.
&gt;-

bardo1

jboz,

I assume you WANT to stay in the city centers and are concerned about accidentally ending up NOT in the center. Correct?

Anyway, here are some hotels to look at in the historical center of Rome:

Here are even more options (all also in the historic center like the hotels suggested above. Check them for on-line specials:

www.residenzafarneseroma.it (TELEPHONE these folks)
www.hotelpontesisto.it
www.hotelcampodefiori.com
www.solealbiscione.it
www.hotelrinascimento.com
www.hotelteatrodipompeo.it
www.residenzacanali.com
www.hotelmimosa.net
www.hotelnavona.com
www.hotelportoghesiroma.com
www.hotelduetorriroma.com
www.romeby.com/pomezia (a one star, budget hotel)

Florence and Venice are much, MUCH smaller than Rome so almost any well known hotels will be convenient to walk to anywhere you need to get to.

As a starting point for FLorence &amp; Venice, here are some Fodors site recommendations:

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...ur_section=lod
(you should exclude location Greater Florence)


http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...ur_section=lod
(you should exclude locations: The Lido and Giudecca)

Jboz1

Sorry for the confusion...we most certainly want to stay near the city center. I meant my fear of using a TA is that the Hotels would be on the outskirts....

My kids are coming 15 and 17. Going July 5th for 13 days.


Thanks

Tim_and_Liz

Budget?

MFNYC

You still didn't mention your budget.

Quads/Fmaily suites are a little harder to come by. WHat you should do is research here on this board. Do hotel searches for each city using the text search box. You will see certain hotels frequently recommended. You can also cross-reference anything recommeded here with comments on tripadvisor. Email any hotels you are interested in and ask what they have for a family of 4 (may be 2 connected rooms, 1 large room or a suite). From my experience, many of the hotel websites and booking sites don't list quad offerings, but when you ask them directly, they usually can accommodate.

We stayed in teh following quads, and were pleased with all of them, and all were centrally located:
Rome - Santa Chiara 3* (2 room suite)
Florence - Hotel Casci 2* (1 large room)
Venice - Hotel FLora 3* (1 large room with 1 1/2 bathrooms).

All included breakfast and had a queen and 2 twin beds.

MFNYC

I just wanted to add, that any hotel you should choose, should have AC for July. You'll need it. You may also consider apartment rentals. Also, keep in mind that Venice and FLorence are rather small, so most locations are decent. Rome on the other hand is more spread out. Something near Navona/Fiori/Pantheon is very central.

scholten

I would look into EuropeanDestinations.com They put together a fantasic trip for us to Rome,Florence and Venice! Air/Train/Hotels w/buffet breakfasts too. Nice Hotels everywhere.

JeanneB

The Rome hotel where we stayed lists quads. I saw several of their rooms, but not a quad. It's Hotel Parlamento...easy walk to the historic center (Pza Navona, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, etc.). We walked to the Vatican in about 1/2 an hour. Hotel has a/c, which you'll need in July.
http://www.hotelparlamento.it/
They have a roof terrace. Three double rooms open onto the terrace (these were closed for construction when we visited). Our &quot;standard double&quot; was located in a cluster with 3 other rooms opening into a small private vestibule. Your boys would be fine in a second room in this configuration.

In Florence we stayed at Residenza Il Villino. I highly, highly recommend it for its lovely rooms and friendly hosts. It's about a 10-min walk to the Duomo. They list an &quot;apartment&quot;, but I don't know how many it sleeps. If you go for two doubles, ask for the room with the Duomo view.
http://www.residenzailvillino.it/

toni_g_b

Albergo del Senato in Rome is on the same piazza as the Pantheon. It couldn't be more central, and the hotel is just incredible - for the staff, the breakfast, the elegant room, and the view! Wow!

Hotel Calzaiouli in Florence is on a street of the same name, about a block and a half from the Duomo in one direction and the Uffizi in the other.

Would happily return to both if the opportunity arose.

rohani

Not sure of the rates for your time period, but we stayed at Locando Orseolo (2 min walk to St. Mark's square)in Venice. We never used a map in Venice as it was always easy to find our way back to the square! we stayed at Albergo del Senato right by the Pantheon. You can't beat the location of these hotels and the service. I found both of these gems on Fodor's and Tripadvisor.

Jean

Just a comment about using travel agents. There's nothing wrong with using an agent if you don't have the time or inclination to do a lot of research. What would be wrong would be to accept the hotel reservations made by the agent without reading traveler comments about those hotels on this board and on tripadvisor.com. You will need maps of Rome, Florence and Venice for your trip, so buy them now and verify that the recommended hotels are near the sights you want to see.

5alive

check http://www.mappy.co.uk/ to see where the address for a particular hotel pops up.