Italy - hotel recommendations
 

Hey everyone -

As promised in my last post, I'm back with specfic questions. As I mentioned last time, my mom and I are taking my 13 year old niece and nephew to Italy in July. We've ironed out our tickets and itinerary and are working on hotels. We've been able to book some places we wanted and others as safeties. Not surprisingly, however, some of the places we were hoping to stay are booked or can't accommodate a family of four.

Specifically, we're looking for hotel recommendations in Positano (or Sorrento, if we don't find anything in Positano), Rome, Venice, and Florence. We prefer smaller places with some character, if possible.

Thanks so much in advance!

For a characterful hotel in Venice, the Pensione Seguso is top of my list. It has the full Merchant Ivory feeling and the location on the Zattere is beautiful and convenient for vaporettos and the Alilaguna boat from the airport. We have been staying there for years, and apart from the installation of better bathrooms, things haven't changed much.

In Florence, Bencista is similarly old school and family-run, but the location in Fiesole is not the most convenient.

If you provide a budget it would be a help. And besides fmaily rooms - yuo might consider two doubles instead - easier to find and more hotel choices.

Quads are hard to come by. Any hotels that you may be interested in you should email and ask how they can accommodate 2 adults + 2 childten. Sometimes they will have a family/quad room or suite, they may have interconnecting rooms, or may suggest 2 twins.

It's been a while (10 yrs), but we did find quads at these hotels (all in good locations and include breakfast):
Rome - Albergo Santa Chiara 3*
Venice - Hotel FLora 3*, this one is very charming
Florence = Hotel Casci 2*, not fancy, but run by a delightful family.

Good advice above.
Add Hotel Portoghesi to the Rome mix.

Also, make sure the hotels have a/c. You'll need it in July.

The Hotel Genio, located at Piazza Navona, has quads, too.

http://www.hotelgenioroma.it/index-eng.php

Thanks everyone, this is helpful. We'll look into these. We have been emailing the hotels to describe our situation and offering to take two rooms, etc. Just not having as much luck as we'd like. (tarquin - I'd love to stay in Fiesole, but agree that's probably a bit inconvenient this time around with the kids and all.)

The budget question is tough. Of course, they're all already more than we were thinking and the acceptable level changes with each city. When you add in the possiblity of going to two rooms, it gets even tougher. I think at this point, we're happy to do some investigating across the price spectrum. Maybe safest to say we're looking for at least 3 stars.

Room are charged by the the capacity, so 2 doubles/twins may be similar in price to 1 quad. As far as *s go, there are some great 2*s (Hotel Casci is one of those). Read reviews on tripadvisor, venere, etc to get an idea of the pros and cons.

www.lacalcina.com
in Venice (it is a hotel but also they have some apartments nearby)

Agree that stars are not always relective.

But you need to be sure the hotel has the basics that you want - AC, elevator versus stairs, etc.

I have been looking for quads for some time in Rome.

Near the Spanish Steps try the Hotel Mozart,

near the Pantheon try Albergo Cesari or Albergo del Senato (they have 2 rooms that may suit - although one has a pull out sofa which may be too small for the 2 children depending on how tall they are),

near Piazza Navona you may look at the Lunetta which was a family suite but it is pricey at around 400E per night

in Trastevere you should look at the Hotel Santa Maria.

All of the above hotels have a/c and family rooms.

If you are willing to stay in an apartment then I would look at www.sleepinitaly.com.

* sorry didn't preview the above post* Hotel Lunetta "has" a family suite not "was" a family suite

Just to give an update, we're pretty much fully booked at this point. We tried a number of the recommnedations above with varying degrees of success, but in some cases trying these led us to other places that did work out. So thanks again, everyone. As always, the fodors forums save the day.

Now, just one quick question (and maybe I should start another topic for this, but I'll take my chances): We are leaving Venice on July 10, but don't need to be in Milan until the afternoon of the 12th. Any suggestions for the nights of the 10th and 11th? Is Lake Como worth a trip? Doable? We thought about Verona, too. Any thoughts?

Thanks

How about accomodation at Montepertuso? This village is on a mountain above Positano, it has breath-taking views, and good restaurants. Praiano is a village also extremely near to Positano, which has a really breathtaking scenary, in my opinion better place to stay than Positano, as it is quieter.

On Sorrento coast we stayed in Vico Equense at a modern high-tech aparment called Cubo Apartments. They even offer you a light breakfast every day, and some of their apartments have the most breath-taking scenary of the Bay of Naples and Vesuvius. The train station, as well as the famous restaurant Pizza al Metro are only a few steps away.

Hi atw74,

What hotel did you end up booking for Rome?

Lake Como is really beautiful. Whether it's "worth a trip" probably depends on you and the teenagers - if they're the sort who require a lot to hold their attention, maybe not. There are some things to do - we walked up to Castello di Vezio above Varenna one day, and went to Villa Carlotta the next - but it's not nearly as "exciting" as Rome or Venice. Might be a good thing at the end of your trip, might not. It's definitely convenient to Milan - just an hour by train to Varenna from Milano Centrale, and you can stay there or catch the ferry to Bellagio, etc.

I would agree re Lake Como...it is actually almost 1.5 hours by train from Milan to Varenna but once you get there, even if you stay in the largest of the three mid-lake towns (Menaggio) there isn't a whole lot of exciting nightlife that would probably appeal to the kids.

BUT, we don't really know what appeals to them now do we? They might actually enjoy just being in the Lake Como area for a couple of nights since it is pretty atmospheric.

Verona...I suspect you and they might enjoy it a lot more if you were also attending one of the performances at the Arena but unless the kids are into opera...

And no, the supposed Juliet's balcony is NOT reason enough to hit Verona IMO, either <G>

I found that Hotel Marincanto is one of the best hotels in the area. the hotel is very recommended and has great reviews. Hotel Marincanto is close to many shops, restaurants and local attractions such as the Church of Santa Maria Assunta in the center of town. You can search it in http://www.hotelsgrid.com just put Hotel Marincanto in the search box