shwets

Hi,
We are planning a 2 week trip to Italy this summer. I wanted to check a good area to stay for 3/4 days. We are travelling with our 4 yr old daughter, and want to stay in a central location for sights, food etc.

bvlenci

The area that comprises Piazza Navona, Piazza della Rotonda (where the Pantheon is), Piazza Farnese, and the former Jewish Ghetto is very central. However, there's no spot in Rome that's walking distance to everything. The most central area is also the most expensive, and the most overrun with tourists, so you might want to stay a bit outside those limits.

There are restaurants everywhere in central Rome. Those right on the main piazzas tend to be overpriced, although there are no hard and fast rules.

Disambiguous

On the advice of Rick Steves guidebooks, we stayed at the Hotel Smeraldo in May of 2012. For as central as it is, the prices were fairly good. It is about equal-distant from the Vatican and the Coliseum, about 20-minute walks to either place. Like the previous respondent said, no place is really convenient to everywhere in Rome, but the Smeraldo does pretty well. Your four-year-old will need assistance no matter what, so I hope she is not too proud for a stroller.

I liked the hotel in general, and the staff was helpful and the breakfasts filling with plenty of food. The only negative about the place was a weird bird that started squawking in the interior courtyard at three a.m. for two of the three nights we were there.

It's not a five-star, but it's clean and central and reasonably-priced (or was then). I'd have no qualms about staying there again.

tuscanlifeedit

The center will be hot and crowded in the summer, with very little to no green space for a 4 year old. Perhaps someone can suggest a hotel with a little bit of space, or adjacent to something that would be a break for a child. Maybe a more quiet piazza...

margotheangel

We were in Rome last week with our two year old son, and we stayed in VRBO #430233. It was a very nice one bedroom apartment near the Piazza del Popolo and the Villa Borghese, which is a big park-like area.