txtree

We will be in Italy with our two very young children for 10 days in late August, early September. We are staying at the Aldrovandi Palace in Rome for a couple of days before heading to Todi, where we have rented a house. We leave Todi on a Saturday morning and our flight home leaves from Fiumicino on Sunday morning. In short, we need a hotel for one night, convenient to the airport, good for young children. I don't want to do the airport Hilton because I'd like to hire a babysitter for this last night to give my husband and me one night out in Rome (am I dreaming, or what?). Any advice, wise travelers??

Grinisa

I wouldn't waste a night in Rome by staying in a hotel near Da Vinci. Stay in Rome itself, enjoy that last night to the fullest, and have your hotel arrange for a cab or car service to take you to the airport in the morning. It doesn't take more than 25 minutes to reach the airport and the choices of hotels that offer or arrange babysitting services is far greater in Rome than out by the airport.

andy

a good car service to use is

www.limoservicerome.com

email [email protected] and ask for Andrea--

He has picked me up at the airport and he also can pick you up at your hotel IN ROME or if you want to stay near the airport in a decent hotel, you can try the Sheraton Rome ( a big US type hotel with large rooms and AC)..it is still about a 15 min drive from the hotel to the airport in the am .....

So you would be spending needless money if you want to have a nite on the town-- ie. you would be using a car service to the Sheraton and then in the am , another car service to the airport from the Sheraton....

SO, I would either stay at the AIRPORT HILTON or stay one more nite IN ROME and let your ROME hotel get you a sitter..

What time does your flight leave in the am???

dln

The same problem presented itself to us, as our flight leaves early in the morning from FCO. I looked at hotels close to the airport and felt they left a lot to be desired compared to their city counterparts.

We are now staying in the city at a good hotel and taking the airport shuttle. The cost is 29.50 euros for us both--perhaps it would be only slightly more for you. It's a less expensive alternative to the limo service. The website is www.airportshuttle.it.

txtree

Maybe you are right. We will still have our rental car (returning it at the airport), so we could park it at a hotel in Rome and drive to the airport in the a.m. (our flight leaves at 10 a.m.).

Any suggestions for great last-night in Italy hotel? Looking for family-friendly large rooms with easy-on-our-aching-backs beds (and babysitting!).

Also, while I'm at it, is Rome as bad for young kids as I keep reading it is? I keep thinking that my young ones will really love the fountains and statues and piazzas. But maybe I'm out of my mind.

Natalia

Where have you read that Rome is bad for kids? That is not to be believed, Rome can be wonderful for kids, with, like you said, the fountains, gelato, the busy Piazzas, like Navona where something is always going on.

Grinisa

If your flight leaves at 10 am you have no need whatsoever of a hotel near the airport. My flights always leave at 7 or 8 and I never stay at the airport. If you want a hotel with parking and all the comforts plus excellent babysitting services, I recommend the St. Regis Grand. Expensive but worth it. And Rome is great for kids! I've taken my two small daughters there twice. I'll top my trip report "Rome with Kids" for you. It has some tips about child friendly activities, restaurants and gelato places.

txtree

Thanks for the excellent thread on kids in Rome. I am looking forward to the trip. Many of the guidebooks I have looked at bluntly state that Rome is not a good place to take very young children. But I'm excited - and my gut tells me that my kids will LOVE running around the Piazza Navona, chasing pigeons and eating gelato. Plus the Italians are so wonderful with children. I suppose the guide books are trying to warn those parents who want to try to *see* Rome (as in, visit museums, churches, etc.) with their babies. My husband and I have been to Rome several times, so we're looking forward to just being in the city, without any need to run around taking in the sights.

txtree

Thanks again. The St. Regis looks amazing, but I think it's more luxe than we need for this last night (especially since we'll be sharing the room with our kids!). Any other thoughts on a family-friendly place, with parking, in the city center? Posh, but not over the top?

ira

Hi txtree,

Do a text search on "Rome hotel", you will find a lot of suggestions.

Grinisa

Few hotels in Rome's centro storico have parking and those that do usually contract with a garage which may not be open early enough for you to get your car and get to the airport in the morning. Could you just drop off the car in Rome at Termini? Then you wouldn't have to worry about returning it at the airport before your flight. If you don't need parking, a lot more hotels open up. I love the Del Senato.

Linda0515

We just got back from Rome and stayed our last night at the Holiday Inn Rome West on Via Aurelio. They have free shuttles to and from Fiumicino and the Vatican (only at scheduled times). What my son loved was it had a pool and a McDonald's next door (by that point we were all sick of pizza and pasta). If you don't care for Holiday Inns, there was a Jolly hotel next door. The only downside was there was really nothing interesting within walking distance.