B&B's in Rome?
 

B&B's versus a hotel - what are the pro's & con's

Hi, Cindy! <BR> <BR>My wife and I stayed at Residenza San Pantaleo back in May. We loved it for its price and convenient location. Right next door to Piazza Navona and close to Campo dei Fiori. Also, close to most major sites. <BR> <BR>Check their website: www.residenzasanpantaleo.com <BR> <BR>If you want to review our trip report, please email me at [email protected] <BR> <BR>Happy trails. <BR> <BR>Bob

Cindy: Stayed in 2 br B&B in Rome--really more like 2 br apt w/ small kitchen, LR and 2 baths--with another couple. Nice to have place to sit and talk in evening and to have fridge for snacks and wine. Priced a little less than we would have payed for nice hotel. Really liked it alot and would recommend it. More info? e-mail me direct.

We ahve stayed at Santa Chiara and at a best western in Parioli. Santa Chiara had a great location but not the most helpful staff. Pairoli is too far out to make touring really convienient. Both ran about $150.00 us a night. Bathrooms were sparse and the rooms utilitarian at best. <BR> <BR>On the other hand we stayed in an appartment in Trastevers on our last visit. Large one bedroom with folding beds in the living room. The bath was luxurious. Came with a fully equipped kitchen. The master badroom had a huge frescoed madonna on one wall and a tiny balcony. The only hang up was that the appartment was on a busy square and it was noisy from the restaurants down below. But in any case, we loved it and slept well. It ran about $150.00 a night and the bathrooms were far superior and we were able to cook several of our meals making for a big savings. And every evening, weather we dined in or out, we opened a bottle of wine and enjoyed some salumi we had bought at a local salumeria in Trastevere. <BR> <BR>We had a superb bakery, gelateria and a plethora of restaurants and artists shops to choose from all in a block or two from our appartment. We really felt connected to the neighborhood and experienced Rome is a different light. <BR> <BR>We shopped daily at Campo di Fiori and quickly discoverd the specialties of each seller. We fell in love with one purveyor who specialized in Frutti del Bosco, tiny berries simply exploding with flavor. He had many varieties that we would never see at home. <BR> <BR>The appartment was 15 minutes walking from Campo di Fiori, 30 minutes from the Circus Maximus, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, 45 minutes from the Coloseo, Domus Aurea and the Foro Romano e Palantino, and an hour from the Vatican. There is an electric bus (either the 116 or 110) that runs nearby which winds its way through all the narrow streets of the historic center. We never used it because we enjoyed the walking. <BR> <BR>But the best part were the evenings we just wandered thru Trastevere. We were there in July during the "Nostrani" which is the Trastevere celebration of itself. There were street musicians everywhere and many performances at makeshift stages. We fell in love with several artisan shops such as Pandora in Piazza S. Maria where I bought my wife a birthday necklace and earring combo for under $100.00 that draws more attention than any other jewelry she owns! <BR> <BR>Here is the URL for the appartment: <BR> <BR>http://www.1001-villa-holidaylets.com/ <BR> <BR>On this site search on the word Trastevere and you will be led to property 1740. Virginia Bellasario in the property agent and she was very easy to deal with. <BR> <BR>BTW, I am in no way connected with either 1001 villa's, Virginia Bellasario or the owners of the appartment. We just rented here and loved it. If you are looking for something quieter than this may not be the place but if you want to stay in a non touristy part of Rome and experience everyday Roman life, here is a great place to do so. <BR>

I recently stayed at the Pantheon View B&B in Rome and would highly recommend it. It is just a few buildings away from the Pantheon and within walking distance to everything. It was spacious with a very large bathroom. There are 4 rooms, one with a lovely balcony. I think the difference between this and the hotels we stayed in was the space and also we felt like we were staying in our own private room. The girl who greeted us was only there early in the a.m. and left a phone number where she could be reached. We never saw another person in the 3 days we were there. I would not hesitate to stay here when I return.

I forgot to mention, you can see the Pantheon View at www.charmingrome.com under B&Bs. We paid $140.00 per nite. Oh, it has a tiny elevator too.

I was just at the Pantheon View B&B as well, just last week. My travel partner wasn't thrilled with it (she couldn't get the shower warm) but I thought it was fine (and I had warm showers). We only paid $125/night - had to change rooms the last night because we had only booked 2 nights in advance, since we we hadn't seen any other Fodorites posting on this location. It is extremely convenient to everything, though we did take buses (several stop 2 blocks away in either direction) to many sites since we knew we'd be walking so much while there! <BR>2 of the rooms had little balconies overlooking the street (not a heavily trafficked one) and the room we moved to was even larger, with a balcony looking toward the Pantheon. Several decent restaurants in the area, too, and with only 4 rooms, breakfast with the 'neighbors' gives you plenty of tips for things you may have missed.