Day trips: Ostia Antica, Tivoli. Theoretically possible to do Pompeii as a day trip from Rome, but less stress to settle for Ostia Antica.

In your original post, you mentioned "this summer" by which I assume you mean summer 2014. Does it have to be "summer" or could you go sometime in spring or fall when the weather would likely be less hot?

$500/€360 will certainly get you a nice property -- but not 'high end'/uber posh.

We stayed in a high end house in Tuscany for our 30th anniversary. It was wonderful. I do not know how to post a link but the website is casaMoricianni.com. Isabel the owner has a nice website. The "Stay in the Heart of Tuscany" tab has some good info about the area.

We are considering May, based on the excellent info received on this forum.

Www.casamoricciani.com

Thought I would try again.

Thank you nubbyrose, I researched it and it looks wonderful. Not sure if this is what we have planned but will consider....after all its Tuscany!

From Rome you can easily day trip by train to Florence (90 minutes), Orvieto (60 minutes) and there are several other towns within an hour or so by train or bus (Frascati, Tivoli, etc.). With only 7 days in Rome, I wouldn't plan more than 2 day trips. You will find plenty in Rome to keep you busy.

If you have 7 hotel nights in Italy, you could possibly stay two places. Fly into Naples and spend 3 nights on the Amalfi Coast, train to Rome for your last 4 nights. Venice/Rome would be possible also (4 hours apart by train).

I love your plan for a week in Rome! No need to go anywhere else, though there are great possibilities for day trips, as mentioned above, if you are so inclined. Enjoy Rome!

Thank you all for your suggestions.
Any thoughts on what airline would be best (Boston to Rome) and hotel suggestions in Rome.
Thanks

if you are just staying in Rome, maybe think about an apartment. Is much cheaper, so you get more for your money.

Walks of Italy do really nice day trips to Pompei from Rome too ...

If you actually have 7 days on the ground (that assumes 9 with days for transportation), then I would do two places 3 days and 4 days each to get the experience of two places. Fly into Venice and out of Rome or in and out of Rome with time in Rome and Tuscany or time in Rome and the AC.

Another suggestion - IF you are going to Rome and then a day trip to Florence, I would fly to Rome then at the end take the train to Florence and stay maybe 2 nights at the Granduomo right across the street from the Duomo. Get the room shown on the website with the 3 windows (that's about $500) overlooking the Duomo. It is simply beautiful. Have a full day in Florence and fly back to Boston from there instead of going back and forth to Rome. Very easy. We just flew to Rome 2 weeks ago and flew home from Florence last Friday. This hotel was amazing!

http://granduomo.com

My hotel suggestion for Rome is Hotel Raphael, it is within your budget, very well located just off the Piazza Navona and it is gorgeous. If you decide on it, ask for one of the Richard Meier rooms.
Have a great trip.

I like kwren's suggestion if you still want to do Florence as well as Rome. That hotel looks lovely.
My favourite hotel in Florence in your price range is JK Place, the best staff anywhere, also a great location, gorgeous decor, very stylish but not stuffy.

In Summer 2011 me and my OH spent two weeks on a rather hectic tour (probably made more so by the heat!). We flew into Milan and got a train to Lake Garda for about three nights, then from there we went to Venice then to Bologna, Florence, Rome, Cinqe Terre and Genoa. The trains are great - cheap, easy to buy tickets, on time.. we couldn't fault them. You get to see so much when travelling by train as well. The best bit of scenery on our travels was the train that runs along the Cinqe Terre coastline.
We booked all our accommodation in advance and looked up timetables. We had a variety of accommodation from house tents to 4* hotels but were on a strict budget!
All worked out well.. apart from almost missing the flight home!

A great hotel in Rome that I think is in your price range is Hotel Campo de Fiori. It's in an outstanding location and has a gorgeous rooftop deck which is a great place to relax with a glass of wine after a day of touring.