Judy

We're trying to decide between Hotel Santa Chiara and Hotel Due Torri in Rome. Santa Chiara offered us a double room at ITL 390,000 and Due Torri one at ITL 320,000. (Albergo Cesari quoted us ITL 400,000.) We will be staying there four nights in September. All things being equal, we probably would probably pick Santa Chiara for location and reputation. $130 isn't a huge amount to us but we always like saving money where it makes sense. It just means more trips in our future. Your input will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

lisa

Judy -- this is very interesting to me because Due Torri quoted us 320,000 lire while Santa Chiara quoted us 300,000, so we chose Santa Chiara. This is for a double with two separate beds, early September. If you haven't already, you may want to ask Santa Chiara whether there are any less expensive rooms available, but maybe they are all sold out at the lower rate.

sue

fyi - on venere.com reservation site, Santa Chiara rate for room with 2 single beds for 1st week in October increased 10000L in early April. I'm not sure if it went from 380-390 or 390-400 but just know that it did increase. Lisa's rate sure sounds better so she may suggest a different way of booking?

Judy

Lisa, that is interesting. When did you make your reservations? Did you book directly with the hotel? We did ours via e-mail and made them about one week ago. They're for Sept 21 - 24. Only other difference is that we have a double bed rather than twins. Let me know and I'll follow up and see if I can get a better rate.

nancy

One criteria I used with our hotel decision making was size of hotel. <BR>Due Torre is about 1/3 the size ( I think) than the Santa Chiara. <BR>We go for smaller. <BR>Is that a consideration for you? <BR>Have a beautiful time in rome regardless of where you find a bed! <BR>

Mara

Judy we stayed in both and Santa Chiara wins every time we plan our next trip to Rome. Besides on our second trip Due Torri gave our room to someone else who was staying there for more days than us (2 nights). They got us a room at the Portoghesi and it was much nicer than Due Torri but we were really upset that they did this to us as we had a confirmed reservation from them that we made 4 months earlier.

lisa

I made the reservation directly with the hotel, through e-mail, back in February, for a stay during the first week of September. I have two e-mail addresses for them, [email protected] and [email protected] (I think I used the former but may have used both; I'm not sure). Back then one of their websites was quoting a rate of 300,000 for a double, so when I e-mailed them I referred to that rate on their website and they were ultimately able to confirm it for me (after failing to get back to me a couple of times due to computer problems). I now have a written confirmation at that rate, and I will be sure to bring that with me when I go since their rates have apparently gone up since then. I assume some of their doubles are different than others since the rates do seem to vary. Also, one interesting thing I noticed is that the hotel seems to have two websites with different rates -- one shows doubles at 330,000-400,000 lire and the other is higher at 380,000-450,000 lire for a double (also you will notice one of the sites shows special reduced rates for August, which is interesting if anyone is planning on going then): <BR> <BR>http://www.venere.com/it/roma/santa_chiara/ <BR> <BR>http://www.albergosantachiara.com/index.html <BR> <BR>It can't hurt to try to ask if they have any lower rates available, but it may be that any less-expensive rooms are sold out? <BR> <BR>Hope this helps -- good luck -- I'd be interested to know how it turns out.

elaine

lisa <BR>Just curious as to which website showed the lower rates. I recently booked the Santa Chiara directly through emailing them. <BR> <BR>The venere.it website purports to not add on any booking fees. Still, I'm guessing that a central booking site like that one that handles so many hotels in Italy may be assigned a block of rooms <BR>(as theater ticket agencies are assigned blocks of seats that are not necessarily the same ones available at the box office)and those blocks may or may not be the lowest or highest-priced, or best or worst rooms, or some combination. <BR> <BR>Just makes me wonder how venere.it works exactly, although I know many people on this forum have used it. I usually deal directly with the hotel whenever I can, but maybe I'm not getting the lowest rate either. <BR> <BR>I do know that what is said to be available on any website or through any booking agency is not always the final word, as I've long thought. <BR>Recently a travel agent volunteered to research some hotels for me since she was already arranging my air fare. In my usual impatient way I contacted a couple of the hotels myself. I was able to book rooms where I wanted in Rome and Venice. The agent called me a couple of days later and told me that the hotels I'd asked for <BR>are fully booked for next fall. That's what her web resources told her, and when I checked the same hotel group websites she checked, the hotels were indeed listed with "sorry, no availability" for my dates. <BR>I inquired again directly at the hotels (email or faxes) and they STILL had rooms available. <BR> <BR>The moral of the story for me confirms that I should always try contacting the individual hotel directly regarding availability. Not sure about the lowest rates however--volume discounts at group websites may come into play. <BR> <BR>

Judy

Just got the response back from the Santa Chiara. They said that the ITL 300,000 price is for August and the

Judy

Oops. That message got posted before I was ready. As I was saying, Santa Chiara said that the ITL 300,000 rate was for August and the first few days of September. That makes sense to me. Lisa, is that when you're going? Anyway, you got a great rate; enjoy it!! <BR> <BR>As to the last poster, I, too, have wondered whether Venere gets a commission. I did all my reservations directly with the hotel. Generally, I don't even like to use a travel agent unless they give me a share of their commission (if they haven't done much work they did on the trip).

lisa

Judy -- Too bad the lower rate is not for when you're going, but I guess it was worth a shot! Yes, their explanation does make sense as I will be there Aug. 31-Sept. 3. Regardless of what you decide, I hope you have a great trip! Santa Chiara and Due Torri both sounded very nice. I'll post a report upon my return & hope you do too.

Gerry

Judy et al.: <BR>Rates are lower in August. This is the notorious heat wave month in Rome. Everybody leaves town including the Pope. They all go on vacation and lots of resturants and shops are closed. But its a time of good hotel rates. Make sure the have air conditioning (Santa Chiara does) and enjoy. <BR>My take on Venere and other booking sites. They quote you the regular hotel rate hotel rate. Not negotiable, no discounts, no bargains. If you contact the hotel directly via their own web-site or by phone they will often(not always) give you a better rate especially if you are staying more than a few days or over the weekend. Also you can discuss special requests--quiet room, balcony, bath/shower etc. etc. I recommend e-mail because you get a witten confirmation with all details spelled out to take with you that at least they should morally honor if you have a problem. Venere.com is good in finding out if hotel is available when you want it. But, it may not be accurate. They are several days behind on their availability postings. The room that shows available may not be or vice versa. For example: I tried to book Santa Chiara for March for 9 nights. Venere and Santa Chiara both said they were booked. When I later saw on Venere that they were only showing booked on Saturday, I e-mailed Santa Chiara that I could take an overnight to Florence that day and stay the other 8 nights. They replied that that wouldn't be necessary. That I could stay the whole 9 nights if I was willing to change rooms for the last day of my stay and they quoted me a lower rate (380,000 per night) No problem! Meantime, however, I got a better deal from Domus Julia which I highly recommend. (See my post under" Jesseycat returns from Rome" post. <BR>Moral: Be persistent and it may pay. <BR>Rome was great. Have fun. <BR> <BR>Gerry