Dennis

I'm looking for recommendations for a hotel in or near the "ancient" area of Rome (Roman Forum to Pantheon) with rooms under $130 for two in a double with private bathrooms.

richardab

Here I go again... <BR> <BR>As the poster child for the Hotel Due Torri, I must recommend it! Its located in central Rome near the Piazza Navona. The rates are good, the location excellent and the staff speaks English and is very friendly. <BR> <BR>Check out the pics of it on my websight . <BR> <BR>http://home.earthlink.net/~richardab <BR> <BR>My sight has a bunch of other hotels plus some good recommendation for restaurants, sights and other good info. <BR> <BR>The websight for the Due Torri is <BR> <BR>http://www.hotelduetorriroma.com/ <BR> <BR>Have Fun!

Claudia

Try the Duca d'Alba. You can find pictures on the ihr website. We paid $120 and $125 for a double with a bath (and a private balcony!). Prices reflect exchange rates on two separate visits. Do a search for Duca D'Alba on the site; I've seen other comments on it before -- I may even have made them myself. Let me know if I can provide furhter details.

Giselle

We stayed at the Duca d'Alba a couple of years ago. Nothing fancy, but clean and comfortable, though small rooms. But that's pretty much par for the course for the price. We paid a shade under $100 for my husband and I, but did not have a balcony. There was a pretty good restaurant a couple of doors down, on the same side of the hotel, but I can't remember the name.

carol

we have booked the Duca D'Alba for a 3 <BR>night stay in May and our rates were <BR>much,much higher for a double room! we <BR>were quoted 370,000 lire, which is about <BR>$217, right? did you folks go during off <BR>season? am i getting ripped off??? thanks much!

Rex

To carol (janusca) <BR> <BR>You need a more up-to-date source of exchange rates. The dollar is stronger than that - - has been for well over a year. And there are no imminent signs of this changing substantially (though you never know). <BR> <BR>370.000 LIT = $178.38 USD. Try www.xe.net and other readily available sources of exchange rates on the internet. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

carol

Rex, <BR>thanks for the info on the rate exchange.. i feel somewhat better! i <BR>still am somewhat confused by the higher <BR>quoted rate (than $125 that Claudia <BR>noted). should i query the hotel or <BR>is this something that's not done? <BR>thanks, <BR>carol

pam

Carol, <BR>I have a sneaky suspicion that hotels in Rome may have hiked their rates for the Jubilee and, finding little resistance, have kept them there. We were in Rome in June 99 and paid 240000 lire (about $137 at that time) for the same room my mom & I just last week paid 330000 lire for (about $165). June being high season and March not...? The couple-of-year difference between Claudia's cost at Duca d'Alba and your own would fit the same pattern.

pam

Another question for the veterans of Duca d'Alba and due Torri...are their rooms quiet? That seems to be a function of having air conditioning...if the windows must be open for ventilation, then in Rome that seems to equal noisy. What are your experiences with these hotels?

Annalynn

Wow, Richard, that's quite a web site you have. I'm impressed!!

audrey

Pam, <BR>Stayed at Duca d'Alba spring of "99 for two nights. No complaints - as mentioned before the room was a bit small. The bathroom was immaculate, though. The price at that time was very competitive. It is off the main street a bit so noise was not an issue (that I noticed, anyway). I would stay there again - the location is great. <BR> <BR>Just my own advice for booking hotels: in the big cities you will ALWAYS be glad that you spent a little more. In smaller towns you can get a great room for probably about half what you would need to spend in the cities. I budgeted $100 per night for our trip to Italy and it worked out to be about right. In the cities (Rome, Florence, Venice) we averaged about $150 a night. In smaller towns (which I prefer anyway) we averaged about $80 a night. <BR>Audrey

Claudia

I'm glad to see interest in the Duca d'Alba; our experiences there in 1998 and this past November were very positive indeed. I will say that on our first visit, we had a room with it's own private terrace; in November we were put in a smaller, darker room for one night until the room we'd had before was available again. But the price was as I've stated, around $125 for each visit. <BR> <BR>For Pam, the room we had was very quiet. The doors to the balcony are the only windows, and they are heavy, double-glazed ones that shut out the noise from the street, which wasn't bad anyway. I will add that we preferred to sleep with the bathroom door closed as well, to block out the noise of our neighbors.... <BR> <BR>Having said that, I still stand by this little hotel. The staff are so helpful, the room was immaculate, the linens fresh and crisp, breakfast really pleasant--I would certainly stay there again. <BR> <BR>I think I booked through the ihr website, and they often have specials listed. Just keep checking, and if something comes up (like a weekend discount) for the dates you've already booked, e-mail the hotel and ask that your rate include the discount. <BR> <BR>Please let me know if I can furnish any further information.

pam

Thanks for the specifics about Duca d'Alba. We had found a lovely, quiet little hotel, well situated in Rome, but the price for my mother's and my stay (last week) was 330,000 lire, a bit more than I'd like to pay...but we did. I've saved all your comments about Duca d'Alba for next time.

rob

Is the Due Torri under $130? The price isn't listed on their website.