Hello,

I am planning a trip to Italy in Oct/Nov and have been looking into b&b or budget hotel options, but the rates still seem higher than my budget. I was hoping to spend no more than $100/night on average, but "decent" places seem to charge at least $150/night.

I've used Priceline while traveling in the US but not outside of the US. Are there any major differences in using Priceline for Europe vs. US? Does Europe, particularly Italy, have many Priceline hotels to choose from in central locations and with good availability?

www.betterbidding.com have done it a bunch over 10 years

get great deals on 4 stars Hotwire Priceline

Recently in May for me

Sheraton Roma(their secret S Rome Hotel) $69 hotwire.com

Boscolo Bellini Venice $120 bidding priceline

www.otel.com gave me great deals on hoteldelfino.com

$60 you do not have to bid for good deals on those.

Best deals are on bidding otherwise values ok not great

eurocheapo.com otel.com best cheapest no bid site for me.

Happy Travels!

We used priceline in June/July in Munich and Frankfurt and spent $60 and $65 (that's dollars!) respectively. Those were both 4* - Frankfurt might have been 3*. I would hope that Italy (the bigger cities) have similar trends. It's worth a try especially if you're not that picky. Check www.biddingfortravel.com and scroll down to Italy to see some past trends. Good luck!

Where are you going?

In Italy's biggest cities, Priceline is a bust. The big modern hotels survive solely on trade fairs. All of them are built on the periphery of the cities, where few tourists want to be anyway because they are so far away from the historic sights.

The hotels in the historic center are often small and family run. There are only a few chains. Even with priceline, these are luxury hotels and you are not going to be able to drive the price down into your range.

However, most Italian destinations -- including Rome and Florence -- have excellent bed-breakfast options in charming, family run b&bs, (I don't know about Venice.) Milan can be tough.

Anyway, have you tried a google search for your destinations followed by the words "bed" and "breakfast." (i.e., Rome Italy bed breakfast.) You should find a number of options with private bath for 100 per night.

Or check into staying in convents. Here's a start: www.monasterystays.com. Google or search this forum for more information.

The caveat is convents usually have early curfews -- like 11:00 PM.

Are you looking for a single room? Would you be willing to share a bathroom? If so, I'd do an independent search before trying Priceline and others.

You might even get some great recommendations here if you tell us where you're going.

For Rome, Florence and Venice, look at:

http://www.cross-pollinate.com/

You can search by date, number of travelers and budget parameters.

I would be VERY suspect of Qwovadis' comments ..... even at that ostensibly low price, the Sheraton Roma is not well-located and gets poor reviews on TA. In fact, other than the cryptic doublespeak repeatedly offered by Q, I have never seen anybody else on this forum suggest this hotel ..... just run a search and check.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ome_Lazio.html

Hi, thanks for your replies! I will be going to Rome, Florence, Venice, and Milan.

I only looked in Rome so far for hotels and B&B and the ones with good reviews are either unavailable for the dates I'm traveling or charge around 110-120 Euros in October. The rates drop in November and fall within my price range, though. I wanted to be in Italy by mid-October for a better shot at good weather, but am considering postponing my trip to November since I will be able to save almost $1000 if I travel in November and willing to deal with rain and cold.

The monastery option sounds interesting, but I assume it has shared bath and I am looking for a room with private bath.

You can get private bath in convents. I wouldn't use monasterystays as they are a reseller and mark up the rooms as much as 15€ per night for a single.

Do you need a single or double at that price?

For Rome, Fraterna Domus is just off Piazza Navona, but it books up so e-mail ASAP. These prices will be a bit old so expect to pay a few euro more.

FRATERNA DOMUS
Via del Monte Brianza 62
00186 Rome.
Tel. 06.6880.2727; Fax: 06.683.2691; E-mail [email protected]
It is centrally located between the Tiber and Piazza Navona. Recommended by the Vatican Tourist Information Bureau. The rates are: 48 Euro per person for room with breakfast and 78 Euro for a double room. All rooms have private baths. Other meals are available on request. Curfew is at 11:00 PM.

If that's booked, you might try Santa Sofia. Ask for a quiet room not on the piazza.
http://www.casasantanna.it/

You don't get much in convents, but they are usually clean and well located and the two above have private bath.

For Florence, I've stayed at Alloro B&B which is between the train station and Duomo.
http://www.allorobb.it/

Here's another website for convents/monasteries. Note the suggestion to email or FAX rather than telephone and the comment that rates may have increased.

http://www.santasusanna.org/comingToRome/convents.html

Thanks, kybourbon. Convents look like a definite possibility if they have availability. I'll be traveling by myself and just need a clean, safe place to sleep. I'll e-mail Fraterna Domus.

Alloro B&B in Florence looks great and even seems to be available for the dates I was looking for at a good price! Is Rome generally more expensive in terms of lodging than Florence/Venice/Milan?

Venice itself can be expensive, but it's worth it to stay in Venice proper. You miss so much of the experience staying on the mainland in Mestre or on the Lido.

Single and female in Rome, you can also try this one as it's women only:
http://www.casainternazionaledelledo...esteria_uk.htm

I think they have a couple of singles with bath although they also have shared rooms/baths.

Here is a list for Rome. Some are better located than others and the prices are a bit old so ask here about location before booking.
http://www.roninrome.com/%20hotels-s...atives-in-rome

If you want to stay in a hill town or two, you might try Hotel Alma Domus (no curfew)in Siena (single w/breakfast is 45€) which is run by Santa Caterina or Monastero San Lodovico in Orvieto (about 35-40€ per night).

http://www.hotelalmadomus.it/inglese...principale.php

http://www.monasterosanlodovico.it/English/english.htm

I have a list somewhere for Venice. I'll see if I can locate it. You can use Monastery Stays to look for ones with private bath and other amenities, but I wouldn't book through them.

The single at Alloro isn't very big, but it has a mini-fridge and electric kettle to make tea. They provide a few snacks in your room at no charge and others you can buy. There is usually a bowl of fruit in the hallway and breakfast was included when I stayed there. There is an interior courtyard with table and chairs which was very quiet. I got a better rate by e-mailing and asking about their single room than what was listed on the website.

Looks like Fraterna Domus has no availability since I'm getting no replies to my e-mail. I'll contact other convents.

It never occurred to me to call hotels directly to inquire about a better rate for a single room. Thanks for the tip!

Your reply may be going to spam so check your spam. They will reply, but places in Italy (not just convents) are usually slow about responding. I use a gmail account when e-mailing Italy as my other accounts seem to think Italian e-mails are spam. Sometimes there is only one person that speaks English and they aren't there to respond to e-mails every day.

Here's a Google map of convents in Venice. Some have websites and others don't.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0...144a023c6be3f2

Here's the old thread with some info for Venice.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-360224-2.cfm

Several of the Venice convents are on this link, but it's in Italian. You can look at the rooms (camere) and other areas (esterne, ambienti).
http://www.sangiuseppecaburlotto.com...0/default.aspx

The Istituto San Giuseppe that is mentioned on the above thread link and reviewed on Slowtrav is this one. Their e-mail contact is on there. They do have a 10:30 curfew and don't offer breakfast. I imagine there are some reviews and pics on TA.
http://www.sangiuseppecaburlotto.com...ioni_26-3.aspx

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/hotels...ppe&s=castello

You can also try www.eurocheapo.com for budget hotels. They rate some of their listings and tell which ones they have recently visited.

Thank you so much, kybourbon. Your replies have been extremely helpful. Oh, and I did hear back from Fraterna Domus. As you said, they were just a little slow in responding. The place is booked as expected.

I have never used Priceline but just watched an irate customer in Oklahoma City berating a desk clerk because he had booked for five people via Priceline and they had booked a one-king-bed room for him. He wasn't accepting the clerk's explanation that his argument was with Priceline and not with the hotel staff.

Priceline really doesn't work for Italy unless you are bidding 4-5 star. Priceline's hotel inventory tends to be chain hotels which aren't located in the center of Italian cities unless they are the higher priced hotels.