Hi everyone - I need your recommendations for hotels in Rome, Florence, and Venice. My husband and I will be traveling in late March to mid April - 5 nights in Rome, 4 nights in Florence and 3 nights in Venice. We are thinking of possibly adding few nights in Bellagio (Lake Como). We'll be traveling by train from city to city, thus we thought we should stay close to the train station. Our budget is about EUR 80 - EUR 100 and a private bathroom is a must Any recommendations?

That's a challenging budget, especially for Venice.

The only place I can help you is Bellagio.

www.residencelalimonera.com/index.htm

Two websites you can use to research hotels by price, location, traveller reviews, etc.:

www.venere.com
www.tripadvisor.com

You might also consider apartments or convents. You can do searches here for the many threads about apartments in Rome and Venice, and to a lesser extent Florence. Here's one website for convents:

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

The listed convent in Venice is in a very nice location not far from the Accademia Bridge, but the minimum price for a double with bath is 125 euros.

Good luck!

Look here for ultra low-budget (which yours is) accomodations:

http://www.eurocheapo.com/

I strongly suggest, since I assume you will be on VACATION, that you not stay near the train stations. They are the least charming areas of each of your three cities.

Instead, splurge on a bus ticket, vaporetto, or 10 minuite taxi and base yourself in a neighborhood that shows off the charms in each of your cities.

Hi jg,

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

In Venice, consider http://www.alcampaniel.com/ and http://www.hotelbernardi.com/en/

For Venice I highly recommend Al Campaniel - it's small, clean and very good located. For Rome you can check out the Simone B&B - it was very clean and cozy (http://www.miaitalia.com/accomodatio...mp;Temp=Detail).
In Florence we stayed in Maxim hotel, which was OK - http://www.hotelmaximfirenze.it/

Keep in mind that most convents will have curfews. The one mentioned above seems to be 11:00 or 11:30 depending on time of year.

For Florence, you might try Alloro B&B. It's between the train station and the Duomo (about a 5 minute walk to the Duomo). The rooms include a mini-bar and electric tea kettle. They have a special price if you book 3 nights. I got a better price than was on their website by e-mailing and asking about availability. The main entrance to the hotel is on via del Giglio, not Alloro.
http://www.allorobb.it/Eng/index-2.html

Thanks all for your recommendations. Would EUR 100 - EUR 120 make more sense in my budget? If so, what would be your new recommendations? Grazie!

Hotel Julia in Rome.

daily Rates in USD
$93-$147

Includes a big breakfast.

You can find well located rooms in all three cities in either budget range (80E-100E or 100E-120E).

Rooms in Florence will be less expensive than Rome or Venice. You might want a different budget depending what city you are in.

Agsain, refer to Eurocheapo.com at least for reference (if not actual rooms).

Thanks for all the links everyone. I will do my research! Grazie!

In Rome there are a number of very well priced decent places to stay about 4 blocks south of Termini Station but this is really the exception as you will generally find that locations in Italy right by the train station are no place to spend a honeymoon. For example, in Florence there are perhaps several dozens budget hotels on Faenza near the station but would you really want to stay there surrounded by drunk students?

Rome has a terrific subway system and there are nice hotels near the Vatican and not far from the subway.

I would certainly check out TripAdvisor as I found some fascinating updates on Italian hotels including one in Florence that I had lived in for over a month 20 years ago that is now apparently dreadful. The place was fantastic when I was there.

One budget idea for Venice is to consider staying on the Lido but this may pose a problem in arranging your early morning departure. Have you already figured out the logistics of your early morning departure from Venice?

In view of the economic crisis I think that you may very well find that a budget of 100Euro per night will work just fine.

Good Luck

jgliu,

Mrs. K and I stayed at La Loggia in Florence for 8 days and will stay there again if possible the next time we go. It's a short walk from the Duomo and it's going for 90 Euros per night.

http://www.venere.com/cgi/hotel/?htid=222112&ref=

I recommend Hotel Apollo for Rome. it's next to the colleseum and near Metro stops. The accomodations are clean and the breakfast is delicious!

http://www.hotelapollorome.com/

In Florence the Tourish House Ghiberti is centrally located, great accommodations, great breakfast. You get a discount for paying in cash.

www.touristhouseghiberti.com/

jgliu,

Check out Hotel Diana in Venice. It's really just steps from San Marco, and is simple but clean with a tasty breakfast.

The staff (especially Alessandra) are extremely nice and helpful.

http://www.hoteldianavenice.com/

We stayed there in October 2008 and we (two couples) were really surprised at how much we enjoyed the hotel.

Byrd

Thanks for all the suggestions. For Rome - hotel Apollo and B&B Simone are not available

I found some others through venere and wondered if you guys have heard of them and which would be a great choice?

Hotel Romae
Hotel Mariano
Hotel Centro
Welcome Piram Hotel
Hotel Milani

Off to research Florence.....

Florence: Only one choice, IMO:

Residenza Il Carmine.

It's on the Oltrarno, which I hugely prefer. It is walkable (just) from the train station.

Five minutes from the Carmine and Santo Spirito, 10 minutes from Pitti Palace, yadda, yadda.

For March 2009, they quoted 65 E/ nt for a spotless studio apartment with kitchen facilities and daily maid service, overlooking a quiet garden. When we stayed there is March 2007, the magnolia tree just outside our bedroom was in flower....

We will stay there again in March of this year. We got a special rate for the apartment we had for 3 nights in 2007:

Beamed 14 ft ceilings, 2 baths, 2 sitting rooms, huge, grand bedroom, modern kitchen, a luggage room...on the ground floor, with French doors to garden...1000 sq ft in total...

...For 85 E/ nt!!

For Rome would you be willing to stay in an apartment? If so, see if Tim Pearson at realrome.com has anything available in your price range. My sister and I stayed at one of the Cappellari studios a few years: clean, central, convenient, with some charm as well.

What does apartment entails? I don't mind staying anywhere as long as it's clean and has a private bathroom..

Yes, of course, private bath--but no concierge to help you with reservations, taxis, no maid to clean your room every day, and you generally pay in full (in cash) upon arrival.

You can get a lot of bang for your buck, especially in a pricey city like Rome, but it's not for everyone.

In Venice, Palazzo Guardi is advertising a rate for March and April of 75 Euro double and 100 double "Jr. Suite" with canal view. We recently stayed in the latter and can highly recommend the hotel. The rooms look exactly like the pictures on their website. You can click on my name for my recent trip report that describes the hotel.

In Rome, you may be able to get the Hotel San Francisco, located in the Travestere section at your price. The hotel is very nice if you specify a room ending in an even number. Those overlook a lovely garden rather than the street. Rooms ending in 6 are best.

Both hotels offer free internet. The breakfast at the San Francisco is excellent.