Hotel Parlamento or Res. Canali in Rome
 

Have been researching for our trip to Rome in Fall '08 and have narrowed down to these 2 hotels, I think...

We would like to be centrally located, want a hotel with charm, but still need our comforts(good beds, clean room, functional bath w/ shower, decent breakfast, not too loud for sleeping)
Decent price
Friendly, helpful staff

After reading many reviews these 2 seem to fit the bill...which would you choose?

We stayed at Hotel Parlamento 3 years ago in one of the rooms on the top floor which opens out onto the terrace. They will serve your breakfast on the terrace or in the downstairs breakfast room.

Didn't see any other rooms so can't comment on them but we really liked our room. Had a nice bath & shower. The room is not big but was very clean.

As you mentioned the price was very good and the staff very friendly & helpful.

This hotel books up fast so don't wait too long.

My daughter and I stayed at the Parlamento in Feb. 05 for 8 days. it was very nice for a very good price and the location was great. we walked everywhere from there.

you can find my trip report by clicking on my name. Have a great time, we loved Roma! lynda

Thanks for the responses

Anyone stayed at either recently? They sound similar...would either one be a good choice?

I stayed at the Parlamento last week, actually. You can find my trip report if you click my name. I did have a single room, which I found extremely small (more so than any other single I've had). It was clean, secure and excellently located. The bed had seen better days (felt the springs, not very soft). But for what you pay I think it's good value. The staff are great too, which is a plus. You might want to look into upgrading your room a bit, just to ensure you get the size/quality that others mention.

amyb
That's pretty recent! Just got a quote back from them of 219USD incl taxes and breakfast, sound reasonable? Does to me if room is not too small and bed comfy!

Anyone stayed at the Residenzia Canali? Would like to hear about it as it's highly rated on TA and may be nicer than Parlamento. Same location I think, but Google map cannot seem to find it's address. Thanks!

lvillinois,

This may be the link you need for the address of the Hotel Residenza Canali ai Coronari Rome.

http://www.ehi.com/Italy/Hotel_Resid...onari-Rome.htm

I had notes in my Rome hotel file from 2006: "Restored in 2002 - street off Pz. Navona, lots of stairs (3*)." It was a hotel I considered in 2006 because it had quadruple rooms.

We are just back from Rome and stayed in Hotel Parlemento. The price quote you got sounds a bit high for fall. We got our room for 105 euros which was a great price. The bathroom was very small but the room was fine and on the back which was a quiet location. The location was good--we walked almost everywhere.

It's been since late Dec 2004 since I stayed at Hotel Residenza Canali ai Coronari. I found it noisey but other did not. I thought the room decor was sub standard but the location was excellent.

We stayed at the Residenza Canali in February of this year and loved it. It has everything you want on your list. We will definitely stay there again when we revisit Rome.

I would like to stay at the Hotel Parlemento in March but there's no place to email them on their website. Do you have to call them to make a reservation?
Thanks,
Nancy

This is the last e-mail address I had for the Hotel Parlamento:

[email protected]

Thanks, I must not have looked carefully enough.

I stayed at Residenza Canali with my mother in June and really enjoyed it. My full review is on Trip Advisor under StuttgartHausfrau. It is SO close to Piazza Navonna and yet on a lovely, quiet street (I'm really not sure how people could find it noisy, but maybe they were on one of the lower floors and had loud neighbors?). It may be hard to locate because the street is so small, but it is a few hundred feet from Piazza Navonna, right off of Via del Coronari (sp?).

I think both hotels are nice choices so you probably can't go wrong with either...

Nancy, perhaps you didn't find further informatio because of your misspelling of the hotel name.

It is Parla, not Parle. Something small, but it could cause frustrations when searching online.

Made my decision just booked Hotel Parlamento after finding that Hotel Residenza Canali was booked! We were quoted 150E which seems a little high but want to have something booked. Sounds like it should be OK and location looks good on the map...on to other planning...

OOPS! Forgot to say thanks for all the help!

lv, I was charged 116E a night in November for a single, so a bigger room may be worth 150E. Sounds good to me...

amyb
They already confirmed our res. and said we would have shower, no tub, and would try to give us a larger room. We'll see.

hausfrau
thanks for the help...as we are traveling to Munich/Salzburg the following week, I'm sure I'll be posting for ideas!

We are a mature mom and an adult daughter who will be spending 4 days in Rome in March - first trip there. Are the 2 hotels mentioned above close to train stations (and is that the best way to get from/to the airport) - 4 or 5 blocks of walking?

Any suggestions on what to see in such limited time?

Thanks.

Neither of these hotels is within 5 blocks of the train station, but both are in excellent, central areas. I'd say they were more like 1-2 miles from the train station. Why do you want to stay by the train station?

If you mean FCO as the airport, you could take the Leonardo Express from the airport (about 10 Euros each) to Termini station, and then take a taxi to your hotel. If you are staying at Parlamento, you could take the metro from Termini to Spagna, and walk a few blocks from there.

But now that Italian taxis are on a fixed fare basis from the airport, and I think there is a limousine service that you can prebook that only charges 35 Euros from the airport, you likely needn't fuss about with the above methods of transport.

Guidebook writer's tip:
The Residenza Canali is more of a B&B than a hotel. Its in an old building that was the family home, winding stairway up to the 2nd & 3rd floors. (they help with bags, but do pack light) Very well decorated and the best possible location for being smack in center (Piazza Navona) yet on a quiet street, almost exclusively pedestrian, antiques shops, restaurants. If you remember the scene in "Under the Tuscan Sun" where she gets lost, then picks up Marcello-it was filmed there.Check www.elegantetruria.com for articles on Rome, antiques, history.

Someone asked how I could find it noisy and I will mention that on the lower floors the walls are very thin and you can hear conversations in the next room and you can hear water in the pipes in the ceiling and walls. The staircase was right outside our door and has no buffer wall so when people walked up and down the stairs all night it echoed a lot.

WillTravel, I was thinking of the subway/metro when I said train. Thanks for clarifying.

We have had mixed results from taxis in foreign countries. Does the driver tell you what the fare to your destination will be when you enter the cab? Any recommendations on limousine services?

Thanks

We stayed at the Parlamento in March 2007. The building was under renovation (inside) and with a scaffolding in front of our window, which made it unpleasantly dark. Our room (no. 96) was very small. The walls could use a fresh coating of paint as they were damaged and dirty. The bed was good, the bathroom was smallish but okay and everything was kept clean.
However, we found 140 euro for our very small room to be much overpriced. Add 12 euro per day if you want A/C!
Staff were friendly and helpful.
And the location can't be beat, of course.

@ 2Travlrs
We used Rome Shuttle Limousine (not to be mixed with Rome Limousine Tours).
They charge 35 euro one-way for upto 3 people with luggage and you have to pay to the driver.
Very punctual service: our driver was already waiting for us in the arrivals hall at Fiumicino, holding a sign with our name. Also for our return he was at the hotel at 3 pm sharp, as we had ordered.
http://www.romeshuttlelimousine.com

I know that Residence Canali will help you arrange transportation to/from the airport, and otherwise will be able to tell you what the fare should be if you do it on your own.

Miriam & GoAway, thanks for info on transportation to hotel. Having limo svc would be much better than making our own way there. How long does it take to get to/from the airport?

We have heard from both hotels, & HP is cheaper by 40E.