Rome Hotels
 

Welcome to the community.We are Belgian. My husband and I plan to visit Rome in May.
We're looking to stay in a reasonably priced 150$200 /nigth but nice, romantic hotel with some character, charming and central location. We're only going for 5-6days. I did some research and found romantic hotels called Cesari, Casa Howard, 58 Le Real de luxe,Susy B&B. Has anyone stayed there?
Any remommndation will be greatly appreciated!

You typed 150$200 - - was that supposed to be a hyphen or dash? Do you really mean US dollars? (I would assume you "think in euros".) At 200 euros, Cesari is an excellent choice, but it is more than 200 USD, I think.

Best wishes,

Rex

If you do a Fodor's search here you'll learn quite a bit (negative) about 58 Le Real de luxe.

Please avoid 58 Le Real de luxe. It changes its name every few months, writes its own -- glowing -- reviews on www.tripadvisor.com and here (until they are deleted by the Fodors editors) and indulges in all kinds of misleading advertising.

Put <Le Real> and <58 Cavour> (without arrows) into the search box and you will see what I mean.

Here are a few threads:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34552242

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34563250

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34538811

I can personally recommend Casa Howard. Stayed in the Pink Room there and loved it! Location is great, room was wonderful, and they have a refrigerator in the hall stocked with beverages, including all the makings for bellinis.

Buon Viaggio,
BC

Thank you for your information and quick answer. I see we have nothing to worry about to write here!!!
We would like to book hotel Cesari and THE RATE THAT THEY QUOTED ME IS HIGHER THAN OUR BUDGET..

We're also not intent on spending as much money as possible..Does anyone have a recommendation?

Try this...

http://cross-pollinate.com/home.asp?lang=1

thanks Lionel, i had found Le real on Michelin. I booked at 58 le real
1 luxury Jr Suite at very affordable rate. It sounds great!

Good luck with 58 Le Real de luxe, I can with 100% honesty tell you that it is the LAST hotel in the entire city that I would stay at.

I know budget is a priority, but you ought to know that you may be staying at a place run by crooks and at the very least, very dishonest folks. If you search the web you will find a multitude of complaints about this place, and just as many fake reviews posted by people associated with the owners.


My husband and I like Hotel Oceania for 138E per night. We stayed there this past June and will stay there again this May.

DonnaL; if you click on the name of posters, you can see all their other posts. Lionel and TexasAggie seem to have a feud going on here about these two hotels. I don't know these hotels, but if I were you , I would do some more research before booking something.

I'm from Belgium too; welcome to Fodor's, and good luck planning your trip.

When a place is recommended from Lonely planet (from 2001) and Michelin
it is top choisen. Only 58 Le Real in Rome has this double recommendation.
I know the editors controll any year these place and they must have high Value

Lionel,

If you click on my name you will see that I am a regular poster on this hotel. I have NO affiliation whatsoever with Hotel Oceania - it happens to just be my favorite hotel in Rome and one which I highly recommend. I actually found out about it from Rick Steves if you are curious, LOL!!

MANY posters recommend their favorite hotels on Fodors, there is no rule to prohibit it.

The reason which I so adamently do NOT recommend 58 Le Real de Luxe is simply this. My husband and I had an experience very similar to several I read about on tripadvisor (reports from people ripped of by the owner of 58 Le Real de luxe) in a small hotel in Venice and it ruined 4 days of our honeymoon. I would hate to have that happen to anyone else. If I can take 2 minutes of my time and warn them of the potential problems with this hotel and help make their vacation more enjoyable, then why shouldn't I? I certainly wish that other posters had done this for me and I could have avoided the terrible hotel in Venice.

oops - I meant to write I am a regular poster on this board!

Still suffering from a bit of jet lag and vertigo from my flight back from Frankfurt, I guess!

I have just returned from Italy. We found the 58 Real de Luxe a pleasant hotel" a "good alternative" to the "expensive giants surrounding it."The 58 Le Real sounded promising in the literature ( Michelin) we read about it. Its rooms looked lovely, and its location near the Colosseum sounded just about ideal. So we booked ourselves in for a four-nights stay during a brief trip to Rome. Hotel is a small boutique styled hotel, housing just 9 rooms in all! Housed in a non-descript building, the six standard rooms of 58 Real de Luxe are on the fourth floor of this building and Junior suite rooms on othe floor.All en-suith bathrooms with Jacuzzi shower.The Hotel is rated as a superior first class de luxel. This very charming guethouse is located along the famous Via Cavour,within easy walking distance of Trevi Fountain, "Spanish Steps" and the Colosseum, only minutes away and next to the there is a subway station to take you to St Peter's Cathedral, the Vatican.
If I have not already sold this hotel to you, consider this.
Located on the north side of Via Cavour this hotel is literally 1/2 block from the Termini subway station. The subway system is a little confusing at first but well worth the effort since it makes getting around the city relatively painless and very inexpensive. The Colosseum / Forum area is the equivalent of 4 city blocks away and can be reached quickly by taking the stairway across the street and continuing straight ahead toward the Colosseum which you'll see very quickly.
If you choose not to walk back you can catch the subway at the Colosseo stop and take it to the next stop which is near the hotel. I would highly recommend this this place for the location and price.

This post reads like an advertising. Are you quoting from a travel guide?

If if the poster IS quoting from a travel guide the point seems to be there is now going to be even more "controversy" about this particular establishment.

DonnaL, did you do anything else during your visit to Rome other than stay at Number 58?

Rome is awe-inspiring. It's one of those places you just have to see.
Turn a corner and you'll come across monuments of times gone by. Splendid baroque buildings, classical period giants such as the Colosseum and the Forum cohabit with Basilicas and Churches of different eras. Striking squares bear witness to 17th Century sculpture thanks to the omnipresent works of Bernini and Borromini, while Renaissance artists Michaelangelo, Caravaggio and Raphael also left their eternal mark on the city.
WHAT NOT TO DO IN ROME: Wear high heels.

I usually avoid controversy on this board, but heads up here: This is Donna's one and only post, and anyone who has any experience with posting here knows that's a red flag for an ad; on the other hand, TexasAggie is a regular and credible poster. I'd avoid this property like the plague.

Turn a corner and you'll come across monuments of times gone by: a constant reminder or Rome's rich tapestry of history. Splendid baroque buildings, classical period giants such as the Colosseum and the Forum cohabit with Basilicas and Churches of different eras. Striking squares bear witness to 17th Century sculpture thanks to the omnipresent works of Bernini and Borromini, while Renaissance artists Michaelangelo, Caravaggio and Raphael also left their eternal mark on the city.

the above is a copy from an article on another website. I would stay well clear of the hotel recommended by DonnaL, if this is the only thing she can come up with!

TexasAggie -- I, too, like the Hotel Oceania; we had an amazing experience there two years ago - there was a group of young people from Korea - opera singers "studying/training" in Rome - who were singing in the church right there below the hotel; they invited us in (I think we were 3 of 6 non-Koreans) and also to their refreshments afterwards; we held hands and they sang grace (incredible voices) and then they asked us to introduce ourselves individually and sang a song for each of us. An utterly amazing and unforgettable experience.

<<If I have not already sold this hotel to you, consider this. Located on the north side of Via Cavour this hotel is literally 1/2 block from the Termini subway station>>

Donna,

Why are you trying to sell us on this place? Why do you think the area around the Collosium is "ideal" (unless you love auto traffic)??? Why do you think the area close to Termini station is nicer than other pedestrianized neighborhoods of Rome (Farnese, Campo dei Fiori, Navonna, Pantheon, and Trastevere to name just a few)???

WARD, something doesn't smell right here.....

And who is Lionel? I don't recall the name.

boy, DonnaL sure did change the way she writes didn't she? It's a total sham..smacks of the thread we had a while back.

TexasAggie - what was the hotel you stayed at in Venice that ruined 4 days of your honeymoon?
We're going on our first trip to Italy and staying in Venice for 3 nights and I'd really like to avoid this terrible hotel in Venice.

Hi kyboo,
We stayed at Locanda SS Giovanni e Paolo. I wrote a pretty detailed review of our experience on Fodors. I'll see if I can find the thread and post it here.

Just look at the she wrote the first questions and compare it to her glowing review. Which was complete with quotation marks I might add.

Scam.

We stayed at Hotel Ponte Sisto in Rome. It is in the Campo Di Fiori area. We had a good experience and paid EUR 195 in early June.

For kyboo - this is excerpts from my post about the bad hotel in Venice.

Venice - Locanda SS Giovanni e Paolo, room 3, small double room with private bathroom and "breakfast" in the room daily between 8am and 9:30am. The hotel was very close to Ospedale San Giovanni e Paolo and was about a 10 minute walk to either San Marco or Rialto. Unfortunately, we cannot recommend this hotel to anyone in good faith. Our room was UNBELIEVABLY loud - not from the street, but from the hotel lobby. We clearly heard the phone, the doorbell, people chatting with the doorman, the doorman on the phone with friends at all hours of the night, breakfast being prepared, and just about everything else. It was very difficult to get much rest to say the least. Also, all three mornings we were awakened by loud knocking and our breakfast 45 minutes to one hour before we had specified. They actually wrote down the time you wanted breakfast (which was incredibly sparse anyway) to be delivered to your room, but they appeared to totally disregard it and wake you up whenever they wanted. Last, you were requested to leave your room every morning by 10:30am in order for the cleaning service to clean it. This wasn't a problem for us except for one day and we alerted the clerk the night before that we didn't want the room cleaned... you guessed it - they came and knocked and requested us to hurry up and leave. My husband was more than a little irritated to be sure. There were more minor annoyances with this hotel but I think I've covered the high points. If you want any peace and quiet do not stay here!
IF you do have to stay here… a few tips:
Don't worry too much - it won't ruin your trip to Venice or anything, just bring good earplugs and maybe post a note on the outside of your door before you go to bed that says what time breakfast should come so you aren't awakened an hour or more too early.

Also, request an upstairs room FOR SURE!! We were only half a floor up from the lobby (rooms 1-3 are at this level) and that may have been why the noise was so intolerable. Although, we met another couple on the top level who said they heard the racket as much as we did so the entire place is probably just noisy.

The neighborhood was just fine. It was well away from most of the crowds and the noise that was so disturbing did not come from the streets or anything. There were signs all over the city (blue usually) that directed toward the Ospedale so that even my husband and I (notoriously bad with directions) were easily able to find the hotel. From the hotel, it was a 2 minute walk back to the Ospedale where there were signs to San Marco and Rialto. So navigating to and from the hotel was pretty easy.

The room was pretty small even for Italian standards but nothing we couldn't work around, and the bathroom was fine with good water pressure in the shower and plenty of hot water. When we arrived the shower obviously had not been cleaned (hair everywhere - gross!!) and we requested that it be cleaned before we came back for the evening and they managed to get that done.

The staff was ok - there is an Eqyptian man on duty in the evenings and he is very pushy about trying to send you to his specially recommended authentic Venetian restaurants... we made that mistake once and it turned out to be owned by another Egyptian with overpriced terrible food. He must get some kickback from them because he had us tell the waiter his name and that he sent us. We should have known better... The woman there in the morning is friendly enough and the girl on duty in the afternoon doesn't speak a word of English so ask your questions in the morning or do without.

A last word of advice, they offer wakeup calls and to have breakfast ready for you no matter what time you need to check out the day of your departure. Don't trust them. Fortunately, we set our own alarm for 5am the day we were leaving because they did not call of course. Breakfast was not brought to our room at 5:45 as they promised, nor was it ready for us when we were leaving at 6am. Actually - we woke up the doorman (who is supposed to be on duty all night but goes to sleep on a couch by 2-3am) as we were leaving. So much for a reliable wakeup call, the water taxi he was supposed to have called for us (we had to RUN to San Marco and find our own at a higher rate), and breakfast.

Hope this helps you be prepared at least. Definitely request an upstairs room, bring earplugs, and plan on buying yourself a 2nd breakfast as all it was was one tiny roll and one package of 4 crackers. Ugh, woken up early all 3 days for just that!!

Dear "TexasAggie",
We note that you keep writing incredible bad reports about Locanda Ss. Giovanni e Paolo, of which we are the NEW owners.
We had alreay seen this post of yours referring to your stay at our locanda in June 2004 and we are quite surprised to see that you repeated that after one year, in June 2005.
Although it is hard to believe that everyrhing at the Locanda was so terrible, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that we took over the Locanda in September 2004 and since then many things have changed.
We take very much care of cleanings.
We don't have anymore a night person, as we are a guesthouse, not a hotel, and we give the clients the key of the Locanda, so that they can feel at home.
We do not promise anymore breakfast at 5.00 a.m., as only 5 star hotels serve breakfast at that time.
We serve instead very punctually a complimentary breakfast in the clients' room at the requested time between 8.00 and 9.30 a.m.
We usually give our Guests suggestions about a selection of restaurants, they can choose from according to their budget and expectations.
Besides, it is not necessary to walk to the Hospital to reach San Marco. You can go to the opposite direction and reach San Marco in a few minutes.
We hope to have the privilege of welcoming you again at our Locanda.
The Management.