I have read and read again the postings on this site about hotels in Rome but am still not sure what to do. My travel agent has suggested 4 hotels in the area of the Stazione Termini. In reading on this site I get the feeling that this is not the "favored" area to stay in. Also I do not find any suggestions on the hotels suggested by my agent. Should I take a chance and pick one of the hotels? I have looked them up on the internet and have information on all just not "personal referrals". Help!

I know what you mean. We went to Rome for the first time in Oct./Nov. this year. It's hard to know exactly where to stay because you'll end up travelling all over the city anyway. We decided to stay at Hotel Spring House just a few blocks away from the Vatican. It wasn't too expensive and we found that with a good street map we walked to just about everywhere we wanted. If you get tired, hop in a cab. I would heed any warnings you may get about certain areas though.

2 years ago we went to Rome. I don't know where we stayed but I do know that the hotel had a free shuttle service that took hotel guests to the area near Vatican City. It was very convenient. <BR> <BR>I can not offer any help in suggesting a particular hotel, but I can suggest that you check to see if the hotel is close to the Vatican. If it is not, ask if they have free shuttles and how often they run. <BR> <BR>We stayed about 15 minutes away by shuttle, the hotel was very pleasant but too expensive, about $250 per night (quite ridiculous). I am sure you can find a nice hotel cheaper than this in a good, convenient area.

We stayed in the termini area at the Hotel Rex on Via Torino and had no problems. The area was safe and convenient to two metro stations and many restaurants. No, it's not the prime or preferred spot, but we were very satisfied. <BR>P.S.: The hotel was excellent, with a wonderful, wonderful staff.

My first time in Rome I stayed 6 blocks from the Stazione towards the Colosseum. I enjoyed the location, becuase it was close to a bus stop that took us everywhere, however, I have to say that when we stayed in between the Spanish Steps and the Fountain Trevi, the location was really ideal. We could walk pretty much everywhere, we were close to the train at the spanish steps, plus there was a bus stop extremely close to our hotel Casa Howard. The area is not resonable for hotel prices, please be aware. But if location is very important to you. I would suggest this area. Especially if you are doing an over view of Rome, going to the main, popular sites. If you want to stay is a "cool, artsy" area...try Trastevere. There are great "out of the way" restaurants in this area. I have not stayed in any hotels there though, so I can't make any recomendations. I would decide what you mainly want to do: shop, eat, tour, etc. and find a location that is central.

Jane, <BR>You really have to do some homework on the web (& in the bookstore) for this. You want to be "centrally located" for your convenience, but you do have to pick certain areas. I read the messages below, which were interesting - I had heard that near the train station wasn't the best area. <BR>My sister and I stayed in Campo Dei Fiori. (Hotel Albergo Del Sole). There is also a Hotel Campo De Fiori. They are across the street from the Piazza Navone (with the beautiful Bernini Fountain) and a great area for walking around and hanging out. They are both clean, small family run hotels, and pretty cheap (like $110 a night or something) Also walking distance to many of the major churches and squares. Check out a map in Barnes & Noble. The problem is, if you stay near the Vatican, you are across the river from the rest of Rome. Now, if you are just going to only see the Vatican, I say go for it! Otherwise, look at a map and see an area that looks pretty central to what you're thinking of doing. Check out the book "Eye Witness Guide To Rome" in the bookstore. It breaks areas down street by street...and gives you the names & numbers of lots of hotels in each area. You can assume that if you read a good review in there, it's a good hotel. Then go to the web and search for the hotel, and see what else you can come up with. If you need more advice, email me at [email protected] and I'll pull out all my "hotel possibilities". Cheers!

Jane, even though you're "across the river from the rest of Rome" as Susan puts it there are bridges!! Trust me, if you're like me and love to walk while in cities like Rome, being by the Vatican is no big deal. We still visited everything we wanted to see excpet for the gardens, which we just ran out of time. Don't assume that the only thing you can see on the "other" side is the Vatican.

We too stayed at the Hotel Rex on Via Torino. This is a wonderful hotel, very plush rooms, great breakfast, great staff. Not too far from train station but far enough to be away from it. I would highly recommend this hotel, but be warned it is 4 star and priced accordingly.

Hi Jane, <BR> <BR>If I were you, I'd tell my travel agent that I want to stay near the Spanish Steps or Piazza Navona not near the Termini. Both areas are the "preferred" areas because they're right in the heart of Old Rome. Although some people have had good experiences in the Termini area, given a choice, I don't think anyone who's been to Rome would pick it as their first choice. Read Fodor's Destination Guide on Rome hotels(download it from this site) and the Frommer's site information on Rome hotels, and the Time Out site information on Rome hotels for a general idea of popular locations, hotels and prices in Rome currently. I'd be real suspicious if your travel agent doesn't come up with any hotels listed on these sites.

Jane, <BR> <BR>I have only been to Rome once, in October of 1999, so I am hardly an expert, but in my experience, the area of Rome that is most central to most of the major sites and probably preferable in terms of convenience and charm is between the Spanish Steps and the Trevi fountain. <BR> <BR>The area directly around Termini station, in my experience, if not unsafe is at least not as attractive a place as you want to stay in if you don't have to. <BR> <BR>However, that being said, when my wife and I went to Rome we stayed in a convent about six blocks or so from Termini station towards the colosseum (I want to say that the metro stop was Corso) and we had a very nice time. <BR> <BR>It was not the most picturesque area of Rome but all of central Rome had a charm to me (given that I had never been anywhere as ancient or different from the United States as Rome). <BR> <BR>Our room (the convent was the suore San Elisabetta and was at via dell'olmata 9) had a view of the basillica S.M. Maggiore which was practically across the street and a private terrace overlooking the convent gardens and the top of the colosseum. My wife was a little concerned about wandering too far off of the main roads at night in the area although I didn't feel unsafe at all. <BR> <BR>If you are interested in considering convent accomodations try santasusanna.org (the site of the American parish in Rome) or look in the bookstore for a book called "bed and blessings." The name of the authors escapes me but I found it at Borders and I am sure that you can track it down via the web. They are clean and quiet, the buildings have charm, the sisters, staff and fellow guests are friendly and respectful and they are generally inexpensive. Note though that sisters may not be as likely to speak English as at a hotel. <BR> <BR>There are two metro lines in Rome -- A, and B and they intersect at Termini. If you are near either line anywhere in Rome is close. Also the historic area is large but not huge. We did quite a lot of walking. You would want to take the train to the Vatican from where we were for example but otherwise all of the major sites were a quick walk, bus or subway ride away. The Vatican was probably a 15-20 minute subway ride from where we were then about a 5 to 10 minute walk from the station to St. Peters or the Vatican museums. <BR> <BR>Hope that helps. If you need more detailed information feel free to contact me. <BR> <BR>Keith <BR> <BR>

Perhaps if you told us what hotels were suggested to you we could let you know if we have any recommendations. I can recommend Hotel Universo and Quirinale which are two blocks away from Termini and were perfectly fine. (There have been many many threads on the board about staying in the Termini area. You may want to do a search and see if any of the hotels your agent suggested were mentioned.)

Jane,<BR><BR>Once upon a time, the area around Termini station was quite seedy. Not so anymore. It's very safe today and, in general, quite convenient with respect to public transportation. If you think the 4 hotels that have been offered to you are a toss up regarding facilities, as a rule of thumb, choose the one that's more to the south-west from the train station. <BR><BR>Paulo<BR><BR>PS. You may be interested to play around with the site<BR>http://infopoint.atac.roma.it/<BR>After entering through the right map, click on trip planning. In the &lt;From resource&gt; box, enter the name of your hotel. In the &lt;To address&gt; box, enter Spagna. Click at the bottom of the page and ... voilà, you'll get the relative position of your hotel to Piazza di Spagna and the the public transportation means to get there. Once you've chosen your hotel, you may play around drawing trip plans to other sites (use the &lt;To resource&gt; box to enter site name). <BR>

Thank you all for your help. The names of the hotels are as follows: <BR>Edera Hotel; Bled Hotel; Siviglia Hotel; Fiamma and Montreal Hotel. I have already done a name search on this site and have not come up with any personal recommendations. Thanks to all for your help. <BR> <BR> <BR>

The Montreal appears to be a 2-star, way off the old city centre, in the oher side of the river. I would be surprised if it isn't much cheaper. <BR><BR>The Blend is a 3-star, northeast of the San Giovanni in Laterano Basilica, pretty far from just about all sites.<BR><BR>The Edera is in the area between the Colosseum and San Giovanni Laterano.<BR><BR>The Fiamma and Siviglia are the oly ones truly close to the train station. Both are on the same street (via Gaeta). The Fiamma is closer to the center, steps from the Museo Nazionale Romano. The Siviglia is some 400 meters further.<BR><BR>I'd stay with the Fiamma (even though it may be a bit noisier) considering location only.<BR><BR>Paulo<BR>

we stayed at the Edera. It is as Paolo stated behind and up the hill from the colosseum.. It is quite far from the center of rome, and it is a 3 star,small room, but good breakfast buffet. Got it from a travel agent, had no idea where we were but the first am walking down the hill into the coluseum without knowing it was there will always be a great memory for us, also it is in a neighborhood, no tourists. <BR>Took cabs and the bus and walked a lot, saw lots of Rome..

Thanks to all of you for your advice, especially Paulo and Maureen. I feel like a can make a better choice now! <BR>I am really looking foward to our trip!