Have you tried search on this forum to see if there are comments on either hotel?

These are both 4 star hotels, hard to screw these up.

I would never book a hotel through Expedia. Try venere to get some comparison prices. ALWAYS check with the hotel website to see if there are specials or better rates.

http://www.venere.com/italy/naples/

A vote against Venere from here I had some odd issues with them early on. I find Booking.com gives a fair balance and always see how Tripadvisor reports on the place.

And Rasta has it right about checking the hotel website, and also the town website for deals of the day.

Check posts by ekscrunchy. I think she stayed at the Decumani last year.

BTW, we just returned from Naples, but stayed on the waterfront. We walked everywhere and felt very safe, although were warned against wandering into certain neighborhoods near the train station.

Have a great time!

bilboburgler - Surprise!

Venere and TripAdvisor use each other's reviews.

Venere is owned by Expedia, along with 100 other brand names. That's why I always check with the hotel.

I will always book the hotel directly, if at all possible.

I want them to be nice to me when I arrive, maybe an upgrade or something. I've heard enough horror stories about third party bookings.

Hi and thanks for the replies. We've never had a problem with Expedia, and the price was the same as the hotels' respective websites. Interested to hear why you don't like it, Rastaguytoday?

Tripadvisor is great - that is where we found these hotels to begin with, and we use their date search function as well - it searches several discount sites (like expedia, priceline, etc.) and we do always check the hotel websites and tourism websites for cities and regions as we have gotten some amazing deals that way. (As an aside, flew to Austria to ski several years ago for a pittance thanks to their national tourism board advertising in NYC!)

Anyway, thanks for the tip to search for ekscrunchy's posts - there is a wealth of useful information there for us. She stayed at the Palazzo Alabardieri which is a further walk from the center, but a nicer area. Since we will be only there one night, we really wanted to stay smack in the middle of things.

After reading more info on Naples, I think the M Gallery Palazzo Caracciolo is too close to the train station and that area is not so wonderful, so we are leaning towards the Decumani.

Becky we are going to Naples in early October and I was initially looking at the Decumani Hotel de Charme or the Piazza Bellini. I gave my husband the choice and he picked the Piazza Bellini, which looks nice too and is in that same central location.

I think you would be happy at the Decumani, the reviews looked good.

You'll find that some hotels - the M Gallery being one of them - have had their own site's booking system linked into the Tripadvisor system!

Two more for you to consider, both within easy walking distance of the Beverello quay, where you'd land with the hydrofoil from Capri....

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187785-d267249-Reviews-Chiaja_Hotel_de_Charme-Naples_Province_of_Naples_Campania.html

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187785-d202910-Reviews-Renaissance_Naples_Hotel_Mediterraneo-Naples_Province_of_Naples_Campania.html

They're very different, but various friends have used one or the other for a short stay in the city after visiting us here on Ischia.

For what's to be seen and done in their immediate vicinity, try:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g187785-i421-k5322452-Things_to_do_around_the_port_of_Naples-Naples_Province_of_Naples_Campania.html

Peter