Rome Hotels (Again!)
 

I know there have been threads on this topic before, but none of them have helped me. Maybe if I set out some specific criteria, someone can come up with a suggestion?

We're looking for a modestly-priced hotel or B&B in Rome - by which I mean 110 euros a night or less. (That's $175 in our money, which to us steep)! We've stayed in several good hotels in Paris within this price range, but are having difficulty finding it in Rome. Near Termini would be nice, but not essential. Within 10-15 minutes walk from a not-too-far-out metro station such as Colosseo, Barberini, Repubblica, Spagna etc would do just as well. We require an ensuite, but otherwise our needs are modest. We are not people who "hang around" our hotel, much preferring to be out exploring. So long as it's clean, quiet and friendly, that's fine with us.

Hoping someone out there can help... Cheers

twoflowers,

You don't say when you are visiting Rome. As I'm sure you know, prices change with season and availability.

As a solo traveler, I stayed at Hotel Giardino Rome** back in 2005. Great location, friendly owner, average breakfasts, no elevator. Comfortable, clean rooms, singles available. My room in Sept of 2005 for a single was 95E per night. The single rooms were only on the street side, but had double paned glass and were completely quiet. Even quiet enough for me as a very light sleeper. Their double rooms are both street side and courtyard side.

Hope this helps and you aren't looking last minute!

PS - near Termini is not the greatest location. Rome is VERY walkable and other areas are better.

Another thought - how are you searching for a hotel? booking.com, venere.com, tripadvisor?

Frankly, "very walkable" depends on what you want to walk to.

Walking distance to Termini but not very close, I stayed at the Hotel Giuliana last time and will again. Rooms are small but very nice, perfectly clean and the staff is lovely. It's on a quiet residential corner and there's a market that sets up on the street alongside, most days if I recall correctly, with a great sandwich maker if you want to pick one up to take along when you go out. I hadn't thought of doing it until I saw the beautiful ones they were making.

I believe it's well within your budget and I'm happy to recommend it:
http://hotelgiuliana.com/default.aspx?lang=en

Many thanks for all your suggestions. We'll be in Rome at the beginning of October. My researches have been on Google and Tripadvisor. For the benefit of others seeking similar accomm on this forum in future, I finally narrowed our choices down to three: Hotel Giuliana (thanks for that recommendation, Mme Perdu), Little Queen B&B, and Hotel Villa Pirandello.

Giuliana is central (6 mins walk from Repubblica metro and walkable to several other attractions), but a little outside our budget at 130 euros a night. Little Queen B&B was the same over-budget price, and a long-ish walk (22 mins) from the nearest metro (Colosseo). Villa Pirandello seems more suburban (8 mins walk from Bologna metro, which is 3 metro stops NE of Termini), and only 96 euros a night. All 3 had very favourable Tripadvisor reviews.

In the end we've gone with Hotel Giuliana. It was a close call between that and Villa Pirandello, but Giuliano's higher rate included breakfast, whereas Pirandello's seemed not to. (We could be wrong about that - it was a little unclear on their website). But the main deciding factor for us was that we were attracted by the idea of being in amongst the buzz of Rome, rather than out in suburbia. (Yes, we realise it could be noisier)! We'll be walking and using the metro a lot, and it's nice at the end of a busy day's sightseeing to just walk out to a local bar or cafe at night, rather than make yet another metro expedition for somewhere to eat.

It's good to have it sorted - thanks again, everyone.

Why do you want to be near Termini or the metro? Termini is not close to the sites or a desirable area. The metro is very limited in Rome and only skirts two sides. It would be better to list what you want to do/see in Rome and what amenities you need in a room besides ensuite instead of metro/Termini. I wouldn't base my hotel location on Rome's metro.

There are little electric buses that run through the center of Rome (even in the pedestrian only areas in some spots). These can be much more useful than the metro, but depends on what you want to see. The 117 runs from Piazza del Popolo/Spanish Steps all the way to S. Giovanni in Laterano (with stops at the Colosseum, etc.). The 116 runs from Villa Borghese to walking a couple of blocks of the Vatican (with stops in the Piazza Navona area, etc.).

Looking at Little Queen location, it's pretty walkable to things. You also have access close by to the electric bus and tram 8. In addition, it's not far from Piazza Venezia which is a major bus transport area.

Good news! 110 euros is only $151 -- according to www.xe.com. So maybe you can afford a little more.

Remember if you have to take the metro or the bus to get places, that's an extra expense. Also the time you spend on the metro is travel time lost.

So much of my enjoyment of Rome comes from walking around the historic center, stumbling on (not literally) the odd Roman ruin or the district where vestments and albs for priests are sold.

I walked all over Rome from the Giuliana, never went underground or on a bus once and it was in December. It's a perfectly fine location.