Alternatives to Hotels
 

We booked our tickets to Italy. Now the hard part. Finding that hotel prices are going to cut into our budget and too old for the youth hostels, I am looking for alternatives.
We will fly into Rome for 3N, train to Florence for 2-3N car to Siena or San G., train to Venice for 3N. Hotels are not that important to us. We would like hot water and a bed at the end of the day but are able to rough it somewhat. Would love some suggestions? Thanks in advance fellow travelers! :)

You said you are too old for hostels, but how about a private room at a youth hostel? So far, my experience has been that these require that you make your own bed and bring your own soap, but they were otherwise as quiet as a hotel.

I don't know when you're going, but some people do camp out. I have never been able to appreciate camping, though.

Otherwise, what about convents?

We were in the same position as you about a year ago. I'll tell you where we spent the night.

Venice: Hotel Caneva

Star Rating: 1 Star
Location: Rialto Bridge (Great Location)
Price: We paid $27 per person, per night
Breakfast: Yes, but only fruit, roll, and coffee

Reviews of hotels:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ce_Veneto.html

We were very happy with Hotel Caneva. There were mostly adults staying here. The rooms were small, but very clean. We had a canal view from our room. Our room had two twin beds, a mirror, a small closet, and a sink. The bathrooms/showers were down the hall. They only take pre-paid reservations.

We booked our hotel on www.statravel.com Yes, STA is a student's website, but it lists it as a hotel, not a hostel. You can book this if you are an adult.

Note: Make sure you have detailed directions on how to get there. You can get eaily lost in Venice. They have a nice map on their website:

http://www.hotelcaneva.com/eng/albergo.html

Florence: Proconsolo Rooms
Family Owned
Star Rating: 1 Star
Location: Proconsolo Road (Walking distance from Duomo)
Price: $25 per person, per night
Note: We had to pay the exact amount in Euros before we could get our room.
Breakfast: No breakfast

Their website: http://www.proconsolorooms.com/default.htm

Rooms are identical to their website. Adults were staying here too. Our room had two twin beds, a closet, a desk, and a fan. The bathrooms/showers were down the hall. The rooms were ok.

Again, make sure you have detailed directions to this hotel. There is no sign on the building. Look for the building number "5" on Proconsolo Road. Then, you will see a call button that says "Proconsolo Rooms". Then you walk in and then walk up several flights of stairs to the front door.

Rome: We had a cheap hotel booked, but they lost our reservation. We lucked out and found the nicest little hotel in Rome. The location of the hotel is bad because it is right by the train station. However, we were able to walk to everything. We never took the metro.

We only paid $50 per night, per person. The room was very nice. We had A/C, two double beds, a TV, a refrigerator, and a large bathroom. The lady who ran it was so nice. She gave us the best details on what to see and do in Rome. Again, the only bad part of the hotel was the location by the Termini station.

I don't have the address or name of it right now. I will get it in about two weeks. I am away from my house right now and cannot think of the name. It might be the WelRome Inn, but I can't remember. I'l post it later, keep your eyes open.

Any more questions, just ask.

college_travelers, looking at the STA site is an excellent tip. I put in a random March date, and the same Hotel Caneva option is now about 81 Euros for a twin room with shared facilities, but that is still pretty good.

Another site for cheap hotels (and other options) is Eurocheapo - http://www.eurocheapo.com

And looking at the Hotel Caneva web site, it seems cheaper prices are available there than from the STA site, if I understand correctly.

Hi pheasant

I can recommend the B&B Peterson in Florence where we stayed recently. It ls about 65E/night w/AC and ensuite bath.

http://www.bedinflorence.it/

Are you aware some monasteries rent rooms cheaply?

Some notes I've taken on cheap sleeps in Venice & Florence

article on cheap Florence & venice http://www.msnbc.com/news/849263.asp#BODY
http://www.msnbc.com/news/854157.asp

www.hotelgalleria.it doubles with bath 104-135 room #5 bathless small

Hotel San samuele 3358, San Marco tel/fax 041 522 8045 88-100 with bath

www.chiesavaldese.org/venezia. (Foresteria Valdese) Castello 70 with bath

Hotel Bernardi-Semenzato Cannaregio (parallel to Strada Nova near Camp SS. Apostoli) 85-90 with bath 041 522 7257 some annex rooms overlook the canal

I feel so blessed for all your help. Guess looking at some hotel charges got me nervous about blowing too much of the budget. All the suggestions are appreciated. Thanks again. This is a special trip as March is the 1 year anniversary of my husband's prostate cancer surgery (he's only 46), the end of March is my birthday and June 2004 is our 20th anniversary. Lots to be thankful for and Italy seemed like the place to be "grateful". Thanks again to all. Now to decide on how many rooms and nights to book in advance and how many to leave to chance. :)

Hi pheasant,

Since you know where you will be on a given day, why wing it?

Hunting for a hotel room is not a good way to spend a vacation.

Why a car to Siena or San G? Both are served by the SITA bus (abouot 1 block from the train station). RT Florence to Siena is 13E.

Thanks Ira and all the above. Are there busses between all the little hill towns? That was the only reason that we thought we needed a car. I am switching to unlimited internet access so that I can read ALL this info and save it to my files. We are hicks from the sticks and it has not been an option until now. Can you say "rural".

I really would like to book the first few nights in each city and then leave one or so open in case we decide to leave and travel elsewhere. It would be nice to have places that accept credit cards. I got the book called bed and blessings from our local library and some of those places look interesting. Alot do not take credit cards and some have curfews. It would be a different experience. I did check the sta site and was unable to access anything as their server was down. The private room in a hostel sounds okay also. We just would rather spend our money eating, seeing, drinking good wine, and a bed is a bed. Hot water however, is a must. Thanks all and I can't wait to post my trip report.

Hi Pheasant
I stayed at Hotel Ausonia on via Nazionale in Florence and it's very cheap, basic but clean and the owners are a very nice couple in their thirties. I would seriously check it out. I stayed there for three weeks, i was out all day and the room was big and adequate. They have a website, you should find it easily. It's about a ten minute walk to the train station. As you are on limited time, I would take the train to San Gim and Siena from Florence for the day, it's so easy and only costs about 10 euro return. Also the bus goes to San Gim. you change in Poggibonsi but that only takes a few minutes as they coordinate the times. Also from Florence go up the hill to Fiesole, it has a gorgeous view over Florence and there is enough there to keep one occupied for a few hours. Don't discount YHA's, sorry for the pun but some are excellent with private rooms. I didn't use any this trip but am a member and take my card in case of needing a back up.

pheasant--What do you consider a reasonable amount to pay per night given your budget?

In some towns you can get a bedroom in someone's house and use their bathroom. No breakfast, so it's not a b and b.

Sorry it's taken so long to respond. I have been away and have not stopped anywhere to access my postings.

Rufus- to answer your question, I would like to spend less than $100 for two people per night, I like $65 even more but hey, I'm on my first trip abroad.

I have to go to my husband's office this weekend and use his DSL to do more research on all the suggestions you have all given me. There is no unlimited internet out in the "sticks" and DSL is definitely out of the question so my time on-line has been limited as of late. Thanks all and I hope to make decisions on places by the end of this weekend, so any additional postings would be appreciated.

I sent for Elaine's files on Rome, Venice and Florence and there does not seem to be many budget Rome options. I also picked up the book Bed and Blessings from the library and some of those look interesting as a change from the "norm". Has anyone ever stayed at a convent or monasteries?

We stayed in the Casa Beata Margherita near the Vatican 3 years ago. The room for 4 at that time was about $65. I understand things went up a bit with the change to the euro.

Oops, it was a convent. Very clean, quiet and convenient.

Another poster suggested this website for backpackers. It has good reviews about hostels and may be helpful if you?re considering those as an option.
http://www.bugeurope.com/

If you are going in March, there is no need to book accommodation in advance. I've travelled all over Italy and never needed to book anything in advance. In most towns, you can step out of the railway station and walk straight into a cheap hotel - there are so many of them in Italy. In a tourist city like Venezia or Firenze, ask in the tourist office: there is a hotel booking office in Venezia Santa Lucia station and they will not be busy in March.

Geoff et al- I have made some inquiries to hotels and have requested at least rates and availability for the first night in each of the three major cities. This is the plan so far and I am open to comments or suggestions.

Rome: The 58 Cavour B&B
The Panda Pensione
and Casa Kolbe- no web site that I have found, so I might have to fax them.
Train to Florence

Florence: The Hotel Dali
Residenza Johanna B&B
The Peterson B&B

bus to Siena and San G.
Stay at Hotel Leon Bianco in San G.

bus to Cinque de Terre for a walking tour of those 5 towns. Stay????

bus back to Florence - train to Venice

Venice: Galleria
Hotel Caneva
Hotel Marin
minervaenettuno.it

Well, I have these as ideas and am open to any others. I would like to get some reservations and can "wing" the rest.

Do you know if there is a problem getting seats on the trains with a point to point ticket? The agent feels like we would be better off with point to point than a railpass.

Thanks again to you all for your suggestions.

Your agent is correct in suggesting you'll be better off buying train tickets on point-to-point basis rather than a pass. And as you'll be traveling during March, you should have no problems with buying your tix once you're there.