Accommodation strategy in Rome
 

We're staying in a nice flat near the Spanish Steps at the end of November. We need to be out of it on a Friday morning, but don't want to leave Rome till sometime on the Sunday.

What's the best strategy for finding somewhere nice to stay - preferably reasonably near - at a lowish price (€150/night for somewhere for two) for the Friday ands Saturday nights. "Nice" means a bit of space and a couple of armchairs. Local colour isn't that important, but we'd just as soon not shlep out to EUR
- Is Priceline a serious option in Rome?
- Are there flats that rent by the day? Or apart'otel-like places?
- Does the Hassler Villa Medici ever have a sale?
- Any other strategies for what I imagine is the low season for tourists and the flat time of week for business travellers?

I would check out the Rome B&B association. There are a number of B&Bs in Rome that are really just one bedroom or two bedrooms for guests in a flat, with a lovely sitting area outside the bedroom. It's very likely you'll have the place for yourself.

Another strategy would be to wait until you get to Roma and go to the tourist office (which surely is near the Spanish steps, yes?). They might help you find just what you're looking for not far from your flat so you don't have to haul your luggage far.

Someplace like this?

http://www.residencetolentino.com/enghlis.htm

I got that from the tourist office site (which is tedious to use):

http://www.romaturismo.com/v2/en/main.asp

But there are other b&b association websites, plus venere has b&bs, and tripadvisor gives reviews of b&bs, and you can google up the individual websites.

My strategy would be do some research on possibilities ahead, but then wait until you are there and look around in person. I can't imagine it would take too long, and seems like it would be fun, to find a place for those two nights once you are already in Rome.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

But no, it doesn't sound remotely like fun to go hotel hunting in time that could be spent listening to music, looking at recent excavations, eating somewhere new, reading what horrors the Mafioso who runs the country is up to now, catching up on whatever period of art we'll be fascinated by come November, seeing whatever bit of the Vatican Museums was chiuso per restauri last time, hearing a sermon from Ratzinger or any of the other things that make Rome Rome. Or at least make Rome worth visiting.

Has anyone ever used Priceline in Rome? Or is it just one of those anglo-saxon things?

Well, it's all academic now.

Mrs F saw the Residence Tolentino website, more or less fell in love with it, decreed that anywhere that's only 600 yds from the flat has to be a good thing, and then saw the wall-to-wall rave reviews on Trip Advisor.

So she's booked us in.

TERRIFIC recommendation, if the website's even only half accurate. Now it's off for a few jars with our local Monsignor to check on what he spends his leisure time when visiting Head Office.

Has anyone here ever eaten at L'Eau Vive? Is Mrs F (half Calvinist, half Jewish stock that fled Catholic persecution in E Europe) going to be horrified? And am I guaranteed to find cardinals plotting to overthrow some Prod head of state at the next table?

That does look good - I'm sending the link to my sister right away. We'll look forward to your review, flanner.

Haven't used Priceline in Rome, but they show many options there.

Great! I hope you and she have a spiritual experience there!

L'Eau de Vive is a restaurant in Rome, correct? I ate there maybe about 8 years ago - one word description, interesting. I was traveling with another family that had picked it from a guide book, probably not where I would have chosen. As I remember, the food was decent and decently priced - many more diverse food options than the usual Italian fare. The whole atmosphere is one of diversity - the servers and dancers were from many countries. I am a Christian, not Catholic, I enjoyed it. One thing you have to say for the Catholic church it is inclusive which is a positive thing in a time when so many churches are made up of only one ethnic or economic group. Hope I won't start a big who-ha on catholicism or diverstiy here. But I did enjoy the restaurant, depending on how long you are in Italy, it might be a nice place to take a break from pasta and pizza.

We will be in Rome in Sept and the Residence Tolentino looks just right for us. When I went on the site there is no where to check availability or make a reservation - do I need to e-mail them. Thanks

FWIW - Priceline doesn't work very well for Rome. You see very few reports on betterbidding.com or bidingfortravel.com of winning bids and when you do, it's usually for 4 star hotels that don't seem well located.

You might like to check www.laterooms.com, the site offers good discount on this B&B.