I know Feel real dumb asking these questions but I am a newbie when it comes to Overseas travel and well in general trip planning (this is a surprise 40th birthday trip for my wife.
I am wanting to know should i purchase my flights then the hotel or vice versa? Does it matter?

Also after reading all the GREAT and I mean GREAt trip reports i have compiled a list of hotels in both Rome and Venice and was wondering for Newbie travelers about which is best for location, helpful staff etc.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!

From the reports I have it down to these in Rome...
Nicolas Inn
Campo di Fiori
Piazza Navona
Hotel Aberdeen
Daphne Inn
Hotel Teatro di Pompeo
Colonnato di San Pietro B&B

Now when booking what do they require? And what is the best way to book?

Thank you thank you so much in advance for al lthe help you all have given and will give!

Hi Reckoning.

I personally booked my flight first and then my hotels - but that being said - I knew how many nights I wanted to stay in each city, and had the number of nights, etc all figured out (we took an open jaw into London and out of Rome).

We stayed at the Daphne Inn in late September and it was wonderful. Highly recommended and great location. It is 5 minutes from the Trevi Fountain - maybe 10 minutes from Spanish Steps, 3 minutes from a metro stop. We walked everywhere in Rome from Daphne - except the Vatican.

Campo di Fiori and Piazza Navona are squares in Rome, and not hotels. The hotels would be located in these areas.

the daphne has loads of great reviews on fodors, tripadvisor etc. - i stayed at the piemonte closer to termini but in a safe, quiet neighbourhood and thought its location was great (you can use the mtero to get anywhere in rome) as also its pirce. you could lookup www.venere.com for reviews of hotels in rome.

If you are booking well in advance, book the hotels first. Then book the flights. Then, if the flights don't fit with the hotels, you can change the dates for the hotels. But if you book your flights first, and then try to book the hotels and find them full, oopsie, too late, you can't change your flights if you've gotten cheap fares!

An example of why you might have trouble booking hotels in certain cities on certain dates: I had enormous trouble getting any room availability for florence in June 2004 on the days when the Pitti Uomo fashion show was in town at the same week as the locals were celebrating calcio storico fiorentino with fireworks and a parade...HOtel prices were higher than normal (the week before and the week after was cheaper) and mostly booked! How I wished I hadn't already booked my flights as it boxed me in.

anyway just a thought for you.

Of those choices, go with the Teatro di Pompeo. It is the best located of all the choices I could make out.

See what prices you are quoted directly with them (they have a website, with a booking form and they will tell you what they require. http://www.hotelteatrodipompeo.it/) You can also check out what price you might get with romeby or venere.

I always book my accomodations first, and in fact, I don't book flights until about 6 weeks before the trip. The one time I booked airfare 5 months in advance, I watched the air drop, and drop, and drop.

First, email the hotels and inquire about price, availability and perhaps most importantly, cancellation policy. But don't book anything. When you know what you want, then...

Book flights first. It is by far the most expensive part of your trip, so deal with it first.

Then when the flight is booked, you can go ahead and book the hotels.

The nuts and bolts. They will almost certainly want your credit card numbr. After you have gotten the price information in writing through an email, send them a fax with you credit card number, dates, etc. I usually paste in their email, making sure to include their response on cancellation policy. Ask them to email or fax you a confirmation. Do everything in writing, if possible.

Incidentally, I would stay at Residenza Cellini. You can't do any better for under 200E

I am not sure about the 6 week rule - in the UK the more advance the booking the cheaper the fare.

If you are staying in a hotel, as opposed to an apartment, most of them have very generous cancellation policies, ranging from 3 days notice to 3 weeks notice with no penalties. This should give you plenty of time to get your airfare with no hotel penalty. They will usually take your credit card info. but will not charge you anything until you arrive (or don't arrive within the cancellation deadline). I have booked all my hotels directly with the hotel, although many people use sites such as venere.com and find them helpful.

Apartments usually have much more strict cancellation policies and usually require 30%-50% down when you book the reservation with the balance being paid atleast 30 days in advance. With an apartment purcahsing travel insurance is a good bet.

We have made all our hotel reservations for our return trip to Italy for June 2006, but am "patiently" waiting for the airfare to drop a bit before buying the plane tickets.

"You can also check out what price you might get with romeby or venere."

Such agencies are nothing but thieves and should be avoided completely. Try reading the most recent Travel Detective book if you don't believe me.