I am planning a month-long trip to Italy in September-October and my plans for a 4 night stay in Bologne have coincided with some big event taking place that week, making it difficult, if not impossible to find a hotel room at a decent price (<$250/night). Whatever is available is $500-1000/night. I'm going to instead look for a vacation rental but I'm not familiar with the areas of the city that would be good for a first-time tourist, relying on public transportation. We'll be arriving by train. Have you found a vacation rental that you recommend? BTW- I can't change the dates as they are between reservations already made for hotels in Venice, then Florence. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Are you looking for hotel recommendations or vacation rental recommendations? Your title says 'hotels' but your text seems to indicate you're looking for a vacation rental... Either way, if there are large events occurring (conventions, perhaps?), the availability of so-called vacation rentals will also be impacted. You might have to re-order your itinerary to put you in Bologna at another time. We've had no trouble in mid- to late October, but who knows what travel in post-Covid times will be like...

Have you tried using a booking engine like booking.com, hotels.com, etc.?

FWIW, we've stayed at the Al Cappello Rosso (now called PHI Hotel Bologna) which we thought was a perfect location... very near Piazza Maggiore.

If you can't change your itinerary and can't find acceptable accommodations, consider staying in Ferrara. It's a lovely town and 30-40 minutes from Bologna by train.

Jean - thanks for your feedback. I'm looking for either a hotel or a vacation rental. Your idea of Ferrara is worth considering...I'll also check out PHI Hotel. Thank you.

We stayed in this apartment when we were in Bologna in 2019 and absolutely loved it. Nicely done apartment in a great location. Our visit also coincided with a large event and the hotel prices were extremely high, but the apartment rate was very reasonable.
https://www.vrbo.com/1555352a?unitId...oq7YsxTvtzK_-k

progol's endorsement is reliable and reviews are positive, but why are there no photos of the apartment on the VRBO website?

Thank you for the endorsement! There are lots of photos on the site. I’ll have to send another link later when I get back home.

Well, that's odd. The first time I went to the link there were no photos. Second time, lots of photos. It looks nice...

Yes, Bologna is known for conferences/conventions that zoom up the hotel pricing.

Al Cappello Rosso (now called PHI Hotel Bologna) was our favorite in Bologna.

Staying at a lovely town outside, such as Ferrara or (my preferred) Ravenna would IME be even better.

When we find our itinerary includes a city with a major event having booked all hotels, we flip the itinerary, problem solved.
We loved our visit to Bologna including our stay Hotel Novecento in historic center.

Progol - thanks for the VRBO link - I took a look at it and it does look very nice. They have a 5 night minimum stay and it's mostly booked already. I'll save it for next time!