TDudette

Pepper, how far a walk from Porto Maggiore is Monti?

And to OP, shabby might be a better adjective than seedy. No matter how you call it, I daresay most of Rome is pretty safe. We were warned about pick pockets on some of the bus lines.

tzoradi

Thank you everyone for your suggestions!

Baudolino and Pepper - I'm excited to check out the Monti neighborhood.

Jamikins - Yeah, our budget is looking pretty ridiculous in Rome.

Ideally, I'd want to be as close to the Piazza Navona - Pantheon area as possible but it may not be in the cards for me. I think I've ruled out hotels by Termini Station and the Vatican.

I think at this point I'm leaning towards either doing an apartment rental in Trastavere (I found some places on airbnb.com for around my budget) or the Hotel Rosetta just north of the Forum (95 euro/night for a double). Should I just bite the bullet and make a reservation or keep looking?

LuvToRoam

We love Trastevere too. We rent an apartment there (through Sleep In Italy-Alessandro Perio), bus stop up the block, very convenient. Highly recommend.

bardo1

Did you actually look at all the places in www.eurocheapo.com - suggested by jamikins above?

I believe you will find something in the neighborhood and price range you want - not a LOT of options in the Navona/Pantheon/Campo area but there a few out there.

annhig

Baudolino and Pepper - I'm excited to check out the Monti neighborhood.>>

on our first visit to Rome, we stayed in the via dei serpenti, which is on the edge of the monti area, running between the forum and the via nazionale. it was not at all seedy, and there were any number of locals' bars, cafes, shops and restaurants. we loved staying round there, though it was a bit of a hike to get into the piazza navona area or to St. Peter's unless you got the bus.

definitely not a bad place to stay at all.

tzoradi

bardo1 - There are two options on eurocheapo.com near Campo De' Fiori/Piazza Navona that would fit into our budget:

1. Cecilia Suites Rome at $125/night.

2. Domus Ester $130/night.

Cecilia Suites gets good reviews for some of their larger suites but mixed reviews for their cheaper double apartments, Vicolo Cellini 14 (next to Chiesa Nuova) and Vicolo sant' Agata 2 (in Trastevere).

Domus Ester reviews are also mixed and I get the feeling it's very dark, small, and an uninviting place to stay (I most definitely could be wrong).

Has anyone stayed at either of these places?

jamikins

I guess it depends on how you view your accommodations. If on a tight budget I would choose a dark, small hotel in a great area as opposed to a bigger brighter hotel in a location outside of centre. This comes from having learned the lesson and spending a lot of time on transit to get to and from hotels outside of the centre in boring neighbourhoods. But we dont spend a lot of time in the hotel - just want it to be clean and safe.

We recently found the Monti neighbourhood around the vatican much more expensive for food close to the vatican as they cater to tourists - especially compared to Trastevere.

I would much prefer a hotel in Trastevere to Monti...but thats just me

jamikins

What about these places in Trastevere...

http://www.eurocheapo.com/rome/hotel...ionigi-17.html

http://www.eurocheapo.com/rome/hotel...tevere-60.html

http://www.eurocheapo.com/rome/hotel...rastevere.html

http://www.eurocheapo.com/rome/hotel...ornaci-38.html

annhig

jamikins - the area I think of as "monti" is that surrounding and to the north of the colosseum and forum, and wiki agrees with me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monti_(rione_of_Rome)

it doesn't go anywhere near the vatican.

jamikins

fair enough! I just think that far from everything and would prefer to be closer! (thats even farther away than I realised it was hahaha)

Pepper_von_snoot

Monti isn't anywhere NEAR THE VATICAN.

You are thinking of PRATI.

Monti is the nabe you see when you walk out the front doors of Maria Maggiore.

Your old, old friend,
Pepper

jamikins

Yes Pepper, I think we have that straight per annhigs post

annhig

fair enough! I just think that far from everything and would prefer to be closer! (thats even farther away than I realised it was hahaha)>>

well it's not far away from the forum and colosseum area, nor from San pietro in vincoli, Santa Maria Maggiore, San clemente, the baths of Diocletian, the Capitoline museums, the Vittorio Emmanuale monument etc. etc. and the nos 45 and 60 buses along the via nazionale will soon get you into what you are thinking of as the "centre" of Rome.

that said, on our 2nd visit, we did choose to stay in a more "central" position. However, i would not rule it out if you find somewhere at a good price.

elnap29

You've been given a lot of good advice, but I'll add a little more in case you find it helpful. We have stayed twice in the area between Via del Corso and the Spanish Steps and found it very walkable for all locations. It's not that far from Piazza Navonna really. Although our hotel (Hotel San Carlo) was more expensive (190 Eu in Sept and up), I've read that Hotel Panda and Hotel Daphne are more budget friendly. We thought the area was much quieter and restful for sleeping, yet close enough to the action. We could walk to the Vatican and the Colosseum.

A friend of mine recently stayed at Hotel Golden (top of Spanish Steps) and really liked it a lot. She said the staff was helpful and friendly and the place was clean and comfortable for her and her daughter. They walked everywhere also. I checked some random dates in September, and room rates start at 108 EU - so this might work for you.

Good luck. And enjoy your trip!

SaraLaw

Stay near the Colosseum is a good option, you could take the metro to Vatican. I would also recommend the centro area.

Mimar

SaraLaw, why are you reviving these old threads?