Many years ago I stayed in a good value hotel in an out of the way place (residential area behind borghese gardens). I was traveling with a friend and honestly we didn't mind taking the city bus into the 'touristy area' and taking a cab back to the hotel in the evening. Now I'm going to Italy with my family (2 kids) and convenience is a huge factor. As is cleanliness and quiet (which are a factor in any case). I'm less concerned about room side, as long as there is enough room for us and our luggage, i can live with it.

topping

I'm with Ed, Centro Storico! It's totally the middle of everything and there are tons of hotels - how about the Minerva or Sole al Pantheono?

Len, <BR> <BR>I literally spent hours reviewing the hotels on www.venere.com I looked at all of the 3- and 4-stars in Centro Historica. I could be wrong but it didn't seem like you got very much more from just the fourth star. At any rate, of all of them my favorites based on the location, quality (based on the pictures),amenities and friendliness of reservations people were: <BR> <BR>The Mozart, 410,000 p/n, <BR>Manfredi, 490,000 p/n, and <BR>Della Torre Argentine 480,000 pn <BR> <BR>We are staying at the Manfredi at the beginning of the trip (3 nights) and at Della Torre Argentine at the end of the trip (1 night). I can't tell you how nice the staff has been at the Manfredi. They have been so friendly on the phone and have been extremely accomodating (and we aren't going for 5 more weeks!). They are also picking us up from the airport and arranging a walking tour of the downtown area on our first day. In fact, in spite of arriving hours earlier than the standard check-in time they are letting us check in anyway...I think they offered..I didn't have to ask. <BR> <BR>Since we haven't stayed there yet I'll reserve my final opinion, but as it stands right now I just couldn't ask for more. <BR> <BR>The Mozart looks beautiful and I wanted to stay there because it had a roof top terrace but they were booked. <BR> <BR>I haven't had the need to interact with the people at Della Torre Argentine but they have been really nice when I have and they have a terrace too. <BR> <BR>Good luck and have a great time. <BR> <BR>I hope one day I will have a child who wants to pamper me so much.

Ed is 100% correct. One of the great pleasures in going to Rome is walking from your hotel to a good restaurant, then strolling for gelato. If your hotel is in the middle of nowhere, you will miss the experience.

Hotel Mozart is a nice hotel, but don't expect it to look as beautiful as the pictures shown. It's a litlle less, but still nice. <BR> <BR>The Manfredi was recently refurbished, and it's a wonderful. The staff is very accomodating, and the hotel, in spite of being on the third floor of a building, is a notch above the Mozart. I didn't stay there, my in laws did, hence I visited both hotels two months ago. <BR> <BR>Surlok