My wife and I will be in Rome for 3days in May (aniversary) and I have narrowed my hotel choices to 2 (baring any alternate suggestions) but I can't decide which. Can anyone offer an oppinion?<BR>Mike

I stayed at the Villa San Pio last June. It is in a lovely area and the hotel grounds are beautiful. The rooms are beautiful with handpainted details on the doors in the hallway. It has good a/c, internet access in your room, a bar, garden breakfast room, and at times there was a lady singing and playing a piano in the lounge. The area is about a 15 minute walk from the Colosseum/Forum area. The walk home is uphill, so take a taxi if you are tired. Even though it is not in the center of town, I highly recommend the area. It is very easy to hire a taxi in Rome and not expensive. The walk to and from the Colosseum area includes a couple of decent restaurants and a great little grocery store where we picked up picnic supplies for the train ride back to Paris. Have a wonderful trip.<BR><BR>

I know (and the Cesari) quite well, and I know the Aventine Hill(s) area, even though I don't know the San Pio.<BR><BR>It looks like you get more bang for the buck from VSP to me (looking at the website), but that's if you don't put a value on location.<BR><BR>These two hotels are in strikingly different locations.<BR><BR>See<BR><BR>http://www.venere.com/cgi/maps/show_...amp;map_id=477 <BR><BR>(Villa San Pio) <BR><BR>and<BR><BR>http://www.venere.com/cgi/maps/show_...amp;map_id=470 <BR><BR>(Cesari) <BR><BR>and use <BR><BR>http://www.venere.com/it/roma/#map <BR><BR>for context of these partial maps of Rome.<BR><BR>Cesari is right in the thick of so much of &quot;touristic&quot; Rome, with more than you can possibly see in days in a 100 yard circle around the hotel.<BR><BR>VSP looks like you might even be able to have a car there (though it wouldn't behoove you to try to use it to see anything in Rome).<BR><BR>Clearly, an apple and an orange.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

The first few words of my first sentence didnt make any sense<BR><BR>Should read:<BR><BR>I know (and like) the Cesari...<BR>

Rex: <BR><BR>Thank you for your input on my questions on Cesari vs Villa San Pio. I think that my wife would rather stay in the middle of rome. ( She likes to stay in the heart of Paris when we are there she says that it's easyer to get the <BR>feelling of the city.) <BR><BR>Do you know if the Cesari has a web site? <BR><BR>Mike <BR><BR>=============================<BR><BR>Whene ver it's not violating someone's privacy, I prefer to answer questions here on the forum. Public answers help many people; private answers help only one.<BR><BR>I think that the www.venere.com website is so respected in Italy, that Cesari is typical in using their listing there as their only website:<BR><BR>http://www.venere.com/it/roma/cesari<BR><BR>When I mentioned that I looked at the website for Villa san Pio, it was te same place:<BR><BR>http://www.venere.com/it/roma/villasanpio<BR><BR>Have a great anniversary! My wife and I will celebrate our 27th Friday when the Buckeyes win the national championship in Tempe. How many is this for you?<BR>

mike,<BR>i am leaving for italy in jan. and will be staying in the cesari. i made reservations directly with them but re-booked thru an agent because they were much cheaper. if you would like further details you may contact me directly as i prefer not to name the company on this forum.<BR>cheers <BR>george

George,<BR><BR>Would you e-mail me with this info?<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Yes George or Rex please e-mail me with the name of the agent that you used to book the Cesari.<BR>Mike

For location I too would recommend the Cesari. It is a nice hotel and you can walk to many of the places you will want to see. I had booked with Orbitz. I got a great rate but had to change my origional reservations by day which put me into a time where there was no avalibility. All the other online agents could not help either. I called the Cesari and booked direct but a TWICE the rate. Use Orbitz on some other online agent, there are many that do the Cesari.

Thank you all for your help. I booked the Cesari for our trip (suprise aniversary present). Even though it is more expensive I decided (after asking my wife a trick question) that it would be better to stay in the heart of the action. The people at travel-italy.com were very helpful. Now on to planning our 3 nights in Florence and 3 nights in Venice.<BR>Mike

I have never stayed at the Cesari but the Aventine is a beautiful, upscale residential area of Rome. You'll love it.

mike,<BR>i am glad they were helpful. i leave within a week and will post my impressions on the cesari when i return.<BR>cheers <BR>george

up up up<BR>