Hi,

Finally finished my pre-Rome bookings (actually my wife is still working on Tuscany, but.....) and now need to find a nice hotel in Rome for 5 nights.

Our hope is to find a place that is child friendly (1 and 3 y.o.). Mother in law would prefer to stay close to the Vatican. I had been thinking Via Veneto since its much closer (walking?) to Trevi, Spanish Steps, etc.

Can anyone recommend places in either area that are under $200 USD per night?

While I wait, I am going to get back to venere.com, etc, but there are so many choices!

Thanks!

I would not suggest either the Vatican or the Via Veneto area. The most central location is around Campo de Fiori/Pantheon/Piazza Navona.

Among the hotels in that area -- which has numerous restaurants in all price ranges -- that have been recommended frequently on this board are Albergo Cesari, Hotel Nazionale al Parlamento, Albergo Santa Chiara. B and B's include Relais Banchi Vecchi and Residenza Canali ai Coronari.

If you are bringing two children and a mother in law, what sort of room(s) are you looking for? A quad and a single or two triples, or because the hotel might not count the one year old, you may be able to get away with two doubles? Not sure about what you mean by "nice hotel" but finding a quad or triple for under $200 might take some work. I too would recommend the Pantheon/Navona area over either the Vatican or Via Veneto.

My thoughts exactly...neither location would be my first choice. There was a thread about this very topic recently and people described the Via Veneto area pretty accurately.

Here is one thread you might find helpful: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

We would be getting, most likely, 2 double rooms.

To be clearer, we would be getting 2 rooms and I was hoping to spend $400USD/night total.

At the risk of starting a pissing contest there were two recent threads about the Via veneto area in terms of hotels and whether or not it is a "good" location.

On one thread it was described as requiring "quite a hike" to walk to any of the major sites. On another, WillTravel described a hotel at the bottom of the Via Veneto and also talked about easily walking everywhere (which has also been my experience).

So, what to do?

Personally, I would concentrate on finding the TYPE of accommodations you need. What is "central" and what is "within easy walking distance" are not, unfortunately, uniformly described on this board.

ELaine has some good suggestions. Check them out.

There is an entrance to the subway at the top of Via Veneto, across the street from the Marriott Grand Flora. The walk to the train platform is a bit far from the entrance, but not too bad. Although the subway in Rome does not drop you right at the major attractions (the Coloseum being an exception), it gets you close and certainly beats walking everywhere or taking a taxi.

From what I've seen, many Fodorites seem to avoid public transportation when traveling...I'm not sure why.

If you are splurging or can afford it, Via Veneto is the place to be.

Well,

Interesting comments. I am not sure which ones to follow! But, in the Piazza Navona area, I found an apartment for 1300-1500E/week.

Anyone heard of or used http://www.romanhomes.com ?

caseylowry,

My family used romanhomes.com for our family vacation in 2003. We had a great apt. ("Julia" on Via Giulia) and a great experience overall. They arranged a driver from the airport (25 Euro). The women who met us at the apt. was incredibly helpful and available (she lived a few blocks away in the Campo dei Fiori area). We then recommended RomanHomes to friends from our church who also had a great apt./experience in June 2004.

The Piazza Navona area is perfect: central, charming, convenient.

BTW, which apt. are you considering??

Bardo,

Its the Julia! From what it sounds like, it would handle 3 adults and 2 kids without problem since it has 2 sofa beds. Do you concur?

Do you see any problems with a 1 and 3 year old there?

No problem at all since two of your group are 1 and 3 yrs old. We were three adults and one teen. The dining room has a table w/ 4 chairs but I assume the 1 tr old won't need a chair.