clifbob

we are visiting Italy next october..2 days in venice...4 in Florence...3 in Rome. We are on a budget and would appreciate any recommendations for nice clean reasonably priced places to stay while in these 3 cities. Thanks for th help.
p.s We are considering hotel riva in venice. Any thoughts?

ellenem

Please tell us your idea of "budget," which can vary from person to person.

Don't know anything about Hotel Riva. The location looks good if you want to be close to San Marco.

elaine

I checked my Venice file on the Hotel Riva. I haven't stayed there, but have noted hotel was/is in 2 buildings, seven rooms with private bathrooms are in the main building, and that those are considered nicer than the annex rooms which have no views. No air conditioning, no elevator.

elaine

meant to add, the Riva gets good comments on many message boards.

KayF

For Rome, you could try this place, the Hotel Smeraldo:

http://www.smeraldoroma.com/about.htm

We stayed there a few years ago, it was on the budget side, price wise, about 2 mins walk from the lovely Campo de Fiori. Rooms were quite small and the bathroom was very small. One thing I'd suggest is to request a room WITHOUT breakfast. We went across the narrow laneway outside to the little cafe and had coffee and pastries there, much cheaper.

If you do end up staying there, I would print off the map from their website as our hotel shuttle driver from the airport had trouble finding it, it is in a small maze of alleys, very picturesque but not made for cars! I handed him the map and he immediately knew where to go. Turned out to be very helpful, we took it with us when we went out walking as well so we could find our way back.

Kay

Vttraveler

I believe the last post is an ad not a post from another tourist.

You may be able to find short term apartment stays in Rome, altho I think these are usually 4 day minimum. Apartments tend to be much better value than hotels. We used realrome.com and were very happy with that agency. It gets consistently good reviews here and on other sites.

tammylouky

Vacationed in Rome, Florence, and Venice last June, and stayed in hotels that all cost 150 Euros or less for triple occupancy.

Rome: Hotel Panda
Via Della Croce 35 - 00187 Roma –
Tel. : +39 06 6780179 - Fax: +39 06 69942151 - email: [email protected]
I liked the location of Hotel Panda, and room was clean, but small, and it did have a/c. No elevator though.

Florence: Florence Old Bridge
Via Guicciardini, 22 nero
50125 Firenze Italy
tel. +39 055 2654262, fax +39 055 283013, mobile: +39 347 4963906
I did not like the Florence Old Bridge, even though the location was great. The hotel associated with the Florence Old Bridge is across the street. It was booked though. The major problem with our room was the mold on the bathroom ceiling and the shower didn't drain properly. It did have a/c and an elevator.

Venice: Hotel Tivoli
Dorsoduro 3838 - Crosera San Pantalon – 30123 Venice
I loved this hotel. Great location, breakfast included, and very reasonably priced. There was a fabulous chocolate shop on the way to the vaperatto stop. I'd stay here again in a heartbeat. a/c and no elevator.

zootsi

Here are places we've stayed at, and were quite pleased with:

Venice - Galleria. Great location, small rooms, right on the grand canal.
About 100 eu with breakfast.
Florence - Ninna Nanna b&b. Good location, nice, spacious rooms. Very friendly owner, quiet backyard patio.
About 80 eu with modest breakfast.
Rome - Residenza San Pantaleo. Excellent location, rooms vary greatly in size. About 100 eu with breakfast.

I would have no problem going back to any of these.

granbury

We have stayed at the Hotel Bernardi in Venice. Double room with ensuite bath for around 90 euro. Clean, good location, helpful staff.

ira

Hi C,

In Florence, I can highly recommend www.bedinflorence.it

basingstoke2

Rome - Hotel Florida, not far from Vatican. Occupies several floors of a larger building. Non Smoking, very clean. No breakfast but plenty of places nearby. About 130 Euro double. Pictures on Eurocheapo.com are accurate.

Florence - Hotel Enza. Not on a "tourist" street but easy walk to most everything. Nice clean rooms and pleasant, helpful staff. No view of interest. A great value at about 70-80 Euro double. Ensuite a particularly good value.

Venice - Agree with Hotel Galleria. Also nearby on Campo St. Stefano is the Locanda Fiorita at about 135-145 Euro double in October - might be a bit less. It is very nice. There are two buildings, the lovely one shown on the website is the main house. They also have an annex nearby that although non-descript outside, is as nice or nicer inside. We stayed in both and preferred our ensuite room in the annex.

CltLwyr

bookmarking

clifbob

My budget is 200 US dollars or less

Nlingenfel

We stayed at these nice budget hotels earlier this month. Hotel Alba, Florence and Hotel Canova, Rome.

I booked them from their web sites and paid in Euro at the hotels.

hlocke1

Hi clifbob --

We enjoyed our stay at the simple, but very well located Nicolas Inn in Rome (http://www.nicolasinn.com/).

For Venice, I'd recommend Pensione Guerrato (http://www.pensioneguerrato.it/). The owners are wonderful and it's located very close to the Rialto Bridge. Again, it's decorated simply, but both are clean hotels with great customer service.

Hope that helps!
Good luck.

bmccadas

Try these two threads...

the first one is my trip report and includes two great options for Rome and Florence. We liked both of these hotels very much especially the one in Florence.

tsecond one poses the same question as you do...

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34908833

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34903355

isabel

In Florence I can recommned Hotel Desiree www.florence.ala.it/desiree/

In Venice Hotel Violino D'oro has specials (including until March 20) that make their rates quite low. www.violinodoro.com/en/index.htm

Cgibson

Can highly recommend Relais Cavalcanti Town House Suite in Florence. Has wonderful location. by the new market and two blocks from Plaza della Signoria and if you are on front side, you can stick your head out of your window and see the domo. Rooms are clean comfortable and they have the softest toliet paper in Italy. Is family owned and girls run it. Are very pleasant and helpful. several good restaurant nearby.

Is a little noisey when market closes and opens and there is a pub on the front side. We were there last Oct and did not notice any noise from the pub. Rooms have double windows and location makes up for any noise. Doubles are 80 to 120 which is very reasonable given location and quality of rooms.

Draw backs are need 4 or 5 keys to get. No elevator for the first story. We are in our early 60's and made it fine. There is one the rest of the way up. Keys can be a problem if you need the wc in ahurry but we made it everytime. No breakfast, but have kitchen with coffee and tea and few snacks. Not staffed 24 hours, but can reach them. Daughters are delightful and have excellent english.

Location is everything and it's 5 to 10 minute walk to Uffizi, Piti, domo, etc. We usually stay on P della Signoria, but made a last minute decision to go to Florence and usual places were booked. Relais C was much cheaper and every bit as nice and didn't have to deal with plaza crowds getting into and out of the room.

they give 5% discount for cash. Web site is http://www.relaiscavalcanti.com/english/index.htm

there are reviews on Venere and Tripadvisory. good luck and have fun.

MaureenB

My daughter and I stayed at the Hotel Riva in May '06. We were very happy with it. Here are my notes:

"Hotel Riva, at Ponte dell’Angelo.

We checked in and were happy to have a first floor room, since there’s no elevator. Our room was #1, in the corner, looking over the intersection of two small canals. We were pleased with this room assignment, since we had requested such a position, but were thinking we’d only have it for the second two nights, not all three nights. So we were prepared to move after our first night, but we were fortunate it turned out to be unnecessary to change rooms.

Hotel Riva is a small one-star hotel, very quaint and charming. Its lobby is welcoming, and its breakfast room is appealing, with both rooms having windows looking directly out on a little canal where gondoliers glide by every few minutes. It couldn’t be a better location. The hotel is sparkling clean, with marble floors, wooden walls, and glass sconces. The bedspreads could be replaced, as they are a bit worn, but that’s a very minor thing to notice, given the wonderful canal views from the hotel and its overall charm.

Our room had an amazing view of the two canals, and the bridges that cross them. Singing gondoliers would use one of the canals, especially. So, from our room, we could hear them go by, singing “Ave Maria” and other Italian favorites. I would sit on my bed, open both corner windows, and watch the activities on two different canals and bridges. Despite the nearness of the canals and the people walking over the bridges and down the little street, the noise was not bothersome to us. The double windows and shutters close tightly, and the canal and foot traffic seemed to be minimal at night.

I highly recommend the Hotel Riva. Its location and price are unbeatable. We paid for a double room, which was just 130 EUR, including an extra 10 EUR for the canal view. We actually had a triple room, with one large bed comprised of two twins pushed together, plus another twin bed in a little alcove. Breakfast is included, which is simply a hard roll and jam, but also with very nice cappuccino. It was a perfect hotel for us."

I sent a copy of my report to the Hotel Riva, and I got back a cute e-mail, saying they'd do something about the bedspreads!

My entire Venice trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34814606

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MaureenB

I can also highly recommend the Relais Cavalcanti in Florence. My notes on it:

"the Relais Cavalcanti. a very charming little 'hotel', at Via Pellicceria, 2. It occupies one floor of a building located near the Uffizi gallery, in a very good central location. Because my daughter had just finished her semester in Florence, she was able to recommend her favorite location in town for lodging.

The Relais Cavalcanti building has been in the same family's ownership for 100+ years, the owner/manager of the new-ish Relais is Francesca. She said she inherited this one floor of the building, so she recently renovated it to create a little hotel. It's relatively new, with beautiful tile bathrooms, showers, etc. The rooms are very charming, and good-sized.

You have the feeling of entering a very nice, private Italian home, when you unlock the Relais door and smell the potpourri set out on the beautiful tables in the hallway and entry way. It has a small elevator and a/c, too. No breakfast is served, but even better I think is that they have a beautiful little dining room/kitchen that is open 24/7 for guests. You have always available the makings for coffee, hot chocolate and tea, plus containers of pre-wrapped pastries and dessert cakes. That's about as much as you get in any Italian B&B for breakfast, and this way you can serve yourself whenever.

One evening we bought wine, cheese, bread, and fruit and enjoyed our own private time in this beautiful room. The only thing to be aware of at Relais Cavalcanti is that the first floor of the building is the Old Stove Irish pub. The good news is that it's a decent little place for panini, and has free wi-fi. However, it attracts a lot of students and young people, so it is quite noisy into the early morning hours. Our room window was directly above the pub's patio, with a nice view of adjoining rooftops. The double windows, plus the wooden shutters, can block out about 90 percent of the noise from the pub below. I found that I could also turn on the a/c fan in our room, which would then totally cover any outside noise.

Francesca also cautions her prospective guests that she does not staff a 24/7 front desk. She is there during posted hours, mostly till 6 p.m., and has an emergency number on the door. But she is careful to tell guests that hers is not a hotel with full-services at night-time. I highly recommend the Relais Cavalcanti."

My entire Florence trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34813784

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