Rome Hotel- Please Help :o)
 

My husband and I will be in Rome for 4 nights (9/17-20). I have searched the forum and consulted guide books and I am now really confused. :o)

Our budget is $200 per night (or less). Our major motivation is LOCATION. We want to be able to walk to everything.

As I said I searched these forums and jotted down hotels, I now have a huge list. Could someone suggest a hotel is a really good location?

Thank you so much for your help, here is the LONG list of hotels I founds so far;

Albergo del Senato
Albergo del Sole Al Biscione
Albergo Santa Chiara
Aphradite Hotel
Beehive
Best Comfort
Blue Rose B&B
Campo Di Fiore
Carot Hotel
Claridge Hotel
Fellini Inn
Fortyseven
Gullivers Lodge
Hotel Campo Di Fiore
Hotel Concordia
Hotel Del Senato
Hotel Del Senato
Hotel Esmerela
Hotel Fellini
Hotel in Parione.
Hotel Intercontinental
Hotel Julia
Hotel Lancelot
Hotel Lazzair
Hotel Lazzari
Hotel Marcella's
Hotel Modigliani
Hotel Navona
Hotel Panda
Hotel Pomezia
Hotel Rimini
Hotel Romano
hotel San Carlo
Hotel Smeraldo
Hotel Smeraldo
Hotel Veneto
Hotel Visconti Palace
Hotel Visconti Palace
Le Real de Lux
Luce Hotel
Mercure
Minerve, Del Senato, Cesari.
Nicolas Inn
Nicolas inn
Pignetoo House
Residenza Canali
Residenza San Pantaleo
Residenza Zanardelli
Santa Chiara

I think you can see why I'm now so confused, please help!

we stayed at residenza san pantaleo in june and loved it! we central to everything, an elevator since its on the 4th floor, internet access in the common area. highly reccommended!

Perhaps you should do a bit more research into the hotels you've named - at least half of them are nowhere near your budget price.

I stayed at the Albergo Santa Chiara in July 2005. IMHO it is PERFECTLY located, just behind the Pantheon. The room didn't have the charm of other Rome hotels in which I've stayed, but it was clean and larger than others (you could actually have two large suitcases in the room without tripping on them).

The staff was helpful and knowledgable, and the common areas were very nice.

Have a great trip!

Stayed at Smeraldo - it was 175E for 3 people in late May 2007. Clean, small room, small shower stall, friendly staff (after we warmed them up a bit), decent breakfast, great location near Campo di Fiora - very short walk to Pantheon, Piazza Narvone..... I would definitely stay there again based on location and cleanliness and price.

You're going this year? If so see what's available in your price range SOON!

I can also vouch for the Santa Chiara and agree with NRN's description. If you can get a room there in your price range it would be a fine choice. The location is great.

If I were you, I would be sending emails to any or all of them OR check something like Venere.com to see if any of them have availability. Seriously,you may be out of luck on where you want or price as September is still high season there for the older crowd who don't have school age kids,etc.And $200 a night might be possible at this late stage?
I think that you are hung up on "the perfect location"-there are many in Rome but the good news is that most of the hotels within the center area are convenient and walkable to anything. (I need a knee replacement and layover up by the Via Veneto area for work everyweek but still walk all over or bus across the Tiber so don't worry!)Get going!!!

Did you check avilable and rates for these hotels? Some may be eliminated right off the bat.

Go to Venere, put in your dates, see what's avilable from your list (most are probably listed there).

My husband and I stayed at the Residenza Canali this past February and we LOVED it. You can click on my name to find my trip report. The location is perfect; you can walk to practically anywhere in Rome from there.

On your (long with many duplicates) list, many can be excluded based on price alone.

I concur that the Santa Chiara is perfectly located but I have contacted them prior to my last 3 trips to Rome and the prices are far above your limit.

You can shop by both price and location using venere.com.

It is already quite late to be booking for the very busy month of September, IMHO.

The best location IMO is the Pantheon/Minerve Square area. Least favorite for me is the Vatican area.

For good value in a nice, not perfect, location, check out B&B Arco del Lauro in Trastevere.

Personally, I walk most everywhere in Rome without a problem so location is not such an issue.

I am a regular at the Hotel San Carlo. It's a lovely hotel, with, IMO, the perfect location. Very clean, the staff is friendly and helpful. I've stayed there a number of times. The best way to reach them is by fax.

Best Wishes,
BC

I see that Hotel Alimandi is not on your list. It's one of the nicest hotels I've stayed at in Rome. It's about a block from the entrance to the Vatican Museum, a couple of blocks from the subway, and offers clean rooms, a nice ambiance and a great staff. I think it is within your price range. Although a few posters indicated that the Vatican area is not their favorite area, it has nothing to do with safety or convenience: the Vatican area is both safe and convenient, but it's more of a residential area than a tourist area. I would stay there again without any qualms.

We also stayed in the Hotel Alimandi last year and would recommend it.

Another vote for Residenza Canali where we stayed in May this year. It's a little bit hidden and hard to find at first - we stumped two different taxi drivers with its location - but very close to Piazza Navona and not that hard to walk to a lot of places. (I think my friends covered most of the 'hot spots' in Rome from there, but we didn't partake of their 2-day marathon!)

From your list that are actually within your budget I would contact ALL of the following immediately and see which have openings for your dates:

Hotel in Parione
Hotel Marcella's
Hotel Navona
Hotel Panda
Hotel Pomezia
Hotel Smeraldo
Residenza Canali (would be my top choice - good look at this late date)

Alos go to Venere.com and look at availibility and prices for all the neighborhoods you like. As others have tried to impress upon you, you need to book RIGHT NOW.

Look at also at Eurocheapo - all under $200 USD:

http://www.eurocheapo.com/rome/hoods...-de-fiori.html
http://www.eurocheapo.com/rome/hoods/piazza-navona.html

Last year we used the service of an italian hotel booking agency www.reservationitaly.com

Through them we booked the Hotel Ponte Sisto, which is a couple of blocks from Campo di Fiori, paying half the list price from the hotel's website! We couldn't believe it! I just looked and they don't have available the Ponte Sisto for your dates , but they have a number of ohers within your budget or close to it.

Good luck!

The rooms at Albergo Santa Chiara are in the Euro 240 range per night this September, which is more like $330 per night.

Anna Roz

Thank you to everyone for your help. I will book the hotel today, before it's to late. I'll let you know which one we get in the end.

My vote goes for Residenza Cellini
__________________________________________________ __

Address: Via Modena n.5
Rome
Italy

Phone: +39 06 47825204
Fax: +39 06 47881806


We stayed there in May and loved the hotel and the staff!!