We are looking to spend two nights in both Rome and florence in September. It is our first trip to Italy and want central hotels/hostels/B&B's that are cheap ish but good value(£50 budget night)

Any suggestions of nice places would be great.

So how many euros is £50?

www.xe.com

It sounds like you want a double room for just over 60 Euros per night, which is difficult to achieve, particularly at this late date.

Try these:
www.hostelworld.com (even for a hostel double room, you might be under budget)
www.hotelscombined.com

In Florence, this place might work:
http://www.florence.net/en/residence...-2000:4152.htm

My son and I were in Rome and Florence last September. I am jealous... Wonderful time of the year to go... We stayed at the San Gallo Palace in Florence. Wonderful place and not overly expensive... Around 100e per night for both, included breakfast. In Rome, we stayed at Hotel Domas Praetoria. This place was run by 2 brothers and nice. Around 120e per night. Right down from the Termini station. Both have websites. Check them out.

Another suggestion. If you are planning on site seeing while you are there, I might recommend www.selectitaly.com. This is a place where you can pre-purchase (reserve) tickets for sites. This saved us a 4-5 hr line at the Vatican. WORTH the 26e I paid for both of us to take the tour. This does NOT include the 13e you pay to enter. We never took the tour but worth paying the 26e to avoid the line. You bypass it and go right to the front entrance of the Sistene Chapel (Tour entrance). Have fun!!

Look into a convent stay. Here is just one website:

http://www.santasusanna.org/comingToRome/convents.html

You could stay in some of the monasteries/convents in the historical center for around that price. Clean, many with private baths and continental breakfast. Take a look at www.monasterystays.com for what's available. Monastery Stays marks up the price a bit, but many of the convents are difficult to contact on your own as they don't have websites or e-mail addresses. I have e-mail addresses for several of them, if you find one you are interested in.

Another suggestion is a B&B. This website lists many of the B&B's and you can contact the B&B directly.
http://www.bed-and-breakfast-in-italy.com/

http://www.b-b.rm.it/ also seems to have some very reasonable prices. Be sure to check property location maps.

In Florence, we stayed at b&b Ninna Nanna. This is a very clean, well located b&b in your price range.
In Rome, check out Residence San Panteleo, a small, modest hotel in a great location.

Hi T,

I can highly recommend www.bedinflorence.it.

We very much enjoyed our 11 nights there.

Details in my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34451044

My daughters loved Hotel Bavaria in Florence, shared bath and all, this spring.

http://www.hotelbavariafirenze.it/

Try www.cross-pollinate.com in Rome.

bookmarking

Take Ira's advice it's a very nice place to stay, price is right and while its slightly misnamed B&B they don't serve breakfast the place on the corner is a slice of Florence where you will mix with locals and the bus stops in front of the door.