can anyone recommend a good small inexpensive hotel in Modena, also restaurants?

A small, reasonable hotel is Hotel Liberta, steps away from the Piazza Grande. A good, pleasant and very reasonable restaurant steps away from the Hotel Liberta is Enzo. THE place for foodies is Hosteria Giusti, only a few tables behind a delicatessen; very expensive, but said to be worth it. According to my notes that date back to 1999, open only for lunch and not on Sunday or Monday; reservations essential -- probably weeks ahead (tel. Italy 059 222 533; they may have a Web site; just behind the Hotel Liberta in a lane called vicolo del Squallore -- which translates to exactly what you might think; in fact, very clean). If you are at all interested in Romanesque art, do not miss the Museo del Duomo. The Duomo itself is very interesting, again if Romanesque art interests you. Personally, I found the Palazzo dei Musei and the Galleria Estense somewhat disappointing. But Modena -- or at least the centro storico -- is compact, friendly and not overrun by tourists.

Eloise, thank you so much for your help, re. Modena Hotel. Not much info. out there, Duntoon

Do you know if the hotel has parking available? What would you classify the hotel? 3 star? How would one reserve a room at the hotel?

Has anyone heard of the Hotel Fini in Modena, and how I can contact them on the web? They were recommended by someone as a good place to stay.

Fax number of the Hotel Liberta is 011-39-059-222-502. They do have a parking garage for extra charge. I'd consider it a 3 star because it has A/C and elevator, but I don't know how the Italians would classify it.

The Hotel Liberta has a Web site:

www.hotelliberta.it

That is how I made my reservation there.

The Web site features three stars, so I imagine that that is how it is officially classified.

There is a Frommer's description of the hotel at

www.tripadvisor.com

With the name "Fini", I associate a restaurant in Modena, which enjoys a high reputation. However, there also seems to be a "Hotel Real Fini" in Modena, which is a four-star hotel. (Its Web site requires Flash Player, which I haven't installed, so unfortunately I can't add any information beyond that.)

Thank you Eloise for the info on Hotel Real Fini. I was able to get on their site, and get their e-mail for rates etc.