My son is doing a semester of college in Florence so my wife and I decided it would be a good opportunity to go to Italy. We are planning to leave thursday April 21, 2005 and returning saturday April 30. We have plane tickets non stop to Venice. 2 nights in Venice, train to Florence with a 4 night stay, train to Rome 2 night stay and flying home from Rome. My question is about hotels. What is a reasonable amount to expect to pay for a good hotel room with a/c and bath, located in the center of town? I get conflicting rates from my travel agent and what I see on various websites. When I question the travel agent she makes me feel like a cheapskate. I'm not looking for super luxury here. Personally I'd rather spend the money on food.

Italy is not inexpensive (distinctly more than NYC for the same level of property) - and hotels tend to be very different than in the US - except for the most luxe hotels the rooms are generally quite a bit smaller - with one double bed - and may have various unique/interesting characteristics.

For April I would suggest that you forget AC - its quite unkikely you will really need it - and that will give you a greater range of hotel choices.

If you will tell us your budget people can give you some suggestions,

(For example, in florence we always stay at the Continentale - a 4* with a great location near the Ponte Vecchio - which has some gerat rooms - and some a little small and odd in the old tower (4 foot thick walls). I understand it was redone last year and we have not been back since. I believe an off-season double now runs abut $250 - $300 Eur depending on what kind of deal you can get - we first paid about $50 per night on our first trip - during the last ice age.)

a "reasonable" amount means different things to different people. The website www.venere.com will show you (most of) the broad spectrum of rates at various hotels. Rome and Venice are more expensive than Florence. Here's my rough guess about the spectrum of costs in Rome and Venice: under $100 a night for a double in April represents the bottom 30%; 25% at $100-200, 25% at $200-300, and over $300 is the top 20%.

Of course, that phrase "in the center of town" is the kicker. 100 yards away from Piazza San Marco? Add $50-100 to what you might pay elsewhere. Quite unnecessary, in my opinion. In Rome, there are more and broader definitions of where you want to "center" your definitions.

Usually better to decide what can you afford - - and then get advice on what you can get - - and might have to give up to meet your budget needs.

And think in terms (perhaps) of how you want to allocate the entire eight nights of lodging expense. Perhaps 17% a night in Venice (34% total), 9% a night in Florence (36% total), 15% a night in Rome (30% total) - - you'll adapt better to lesser accommodations nearer the end of the trip - - plus, with your daughter as a resource in Florence, you may find that you need less "infrastructure" while you are there.

Best wishes,

Rex

I think the main question is what constitutes a "good hotel room" and how important is the location to you. For example, Rome hotels near Termini are often very reasonable, but it seems the location is not the best. Also, Venere sometimes has the cheapest rate, but not always - you have to cast a wide net if you're really trolling for bargains. Based on my recent bargain-oriented winter research for those cities, I think all of those requirements could be met for less than 100 Euros per night for a double room in winter - so say 25% more for April. These would likely be small rooms with small bathrooms, but you should get livable quality.

Besides venere.com I should mention a few other sites to check.

http://www.hrs.de
http://www.hotels.de (different rates than the American site)
http://www.hotelclub.net http://www.ratestogo.com
http://www.laterooms.com

The hotel's own web sites. You can also email and sometimes get a better offer. Don't book with an agent without getting a quote from the hotel first.

My travel agent is talking about $250 US per night. But some hotels I saw on the web, The Tulip Mirage for instance, look very nice, have all amenities, are in the center of the city, and run about 150 per night. I have no clue if its a decent hotel. $100 extra per day buys a lot of food,etc. The Pendini is even less than that! Whats the story?

In the larger scheme of things, the Pendini is generally considered a "moderate" hotel; as the word implies, roughly halfway between the most and the least expensive.

The Tulip Mirage is anything but central. It's closer to the Florence (not Pisa) airport than it is to downtown Florence.

What gives? It might be that your travel agent is not being perfectly honest with you. My advice would be to buy a single guidebook to Italy -- Fodor's is obviously the one that comes to mind -- look at the possibilities there, look at the Web sites of the hotels that interest you, then come back to the forum to ask for opinions here.

Travel agents aren't necessarily up to date on the cheapest ways to get hotel rooms nor do they necessarily have access to the cheapest rates unless they do a lot of research (like at the sites I mentioned). I've never gotten the cheapest quote for airfares from a travel agent (although I know some people say they've gotten good deals); I've always found the cheapest deals myself.

So would you consider the Pendini a good place to stay for 4 nights in Florence?

Pendini is in Rick Steves' book and Frommers. Here is a positive review:
http://europeforvisitors.com/europe/...ce_hotels3.htm

You can also do a search here and see what people say about it. It sounds like it definitely is not a chain-hotel type place, which might be what your travel agent is steering you towards.

Have you looked at the Pendini's own Web site:

http://www.florenceitaly.net/pagine/pendini/index.asp

It's a three-star hotel and very central; as I recall, it looks out on the Piazza della Repubblica, one of the larger and busier piazzas in Florence.

Unless I have actually stayed at a hotel myself, I don't like to make an outright recommendation. Have you asked your son whether there are hotels that he would suggest for you?

If your travel agent doesn't feel to you like they're on your side, I'd re-think things.

I know my favorite (and only) hotel in Venice, La Calcina is in less than 200 euro range, a delightful 3-star in a good location.

Maybe you'd do better with booking airfare only thru the TA and arranging your own lodgings? Or doing the entire trip yourself. What you describe isn't that complicated.

My first trip to Italy is not until June 2005. However I have done hours upon hours of research on reseasonalbly priced hotels. We booked La Calcina (www.lacalcina.com) in Venice, which for Venice was a great price for a room with a front and side canal view(about 182E per night) The reviews are great on it too. In Rome we booked a very nice hotel called The Hotel Santa Maria (www.htlsantamaria.com)that's about 20 min. outside of Romes Center. I personally have not read one bad review on it yet. The cost for a double room was about 155E per night (If you mention and bring with you the Rick Steves book). Check out Rants and Raves on the Fodors home page as well as trip advisor.com for hotel reviews. I had a travel agent too at one point that was trying to get us to put us $350 a night hotels. Stick with this website, that's what I did and I learned so much from the fodorites.
Good Luck,
Krista

Go to tripadvisor.com and read the reviews of the places you are interested in. They seem to have the most comprehensive reviews.

Go to the bookstore and look for Sandra Gustafson's book, Cheap Sleeps in Italy. It gives very detailed descriptions of budget-moderate hotels, with lots of information about locations, small hotels, hotels worth splurging for etc (although her splurges are moderate). Buy the book, or write down some of her recommendations, and then research the hotels on tripadvisor.com for recent reviews. You have lots of time to do your own research - and it can be a lot of fun to do so.

Can anybody recommend hotels in Rome in the 175-200 Euro range for April 2005? I am currently holding a room at the Caprice. According to the reviews it's close to everything but the immediate surroundings are a little seedy.

Consider the Hotel Julia or the associated Domus Julia - http://www.hoteljulia.it or http://www.domusjulia.it . There are some reviews here and elsewhere. I will stay at the Hotel Julia in January.

At first I was a little stunned by your statement that "the immediate surroundings are a little seedy" -- just off the Via Veneto?!? -- but then I looked at www.tripadvisor.com. Now I understand what you meant...

The Via Veneto is certainly a well-known area in Rome, but most frequent visitors to Rome -- i.e., most of the people on this board -- prefer the Piazza Navona/Pantheon/Campo de Fiori area. Almost anything of interest in Rome is within walking distance, there are many restaurants in the area, the streets are full of people in the evening, so one feels safe.

For most of the times I have been in Rome, I have always stayed with a friend who lived there, so I cannot really recommend a hotel from personal experience, but among the possibilities often mentioned and recommended here are the Albergo Santa Chiara, the Relais Banchi Vecchi, the Residenza Canali ai Coronari and the Nazionale a Montecitorio.