Where to stay?
 

Hello,
I'm wondering where I should stay in Rome and Tuscany. There are two adults and one adult teenager in my travel group and I must admit I'm a bit unhappy with trying to find a hotel. I understand in Europe they have different ideas on room/bed situations but the cost of sticking the third person in another room and paying full price for it doesn't sit too well with me. What do families in europe do when they travel? I personally just want to pay for one room with two queen beds, but alas this isn't the case. And paying for the second room significantly increases the price of the trip. Should we try and rent an apartment and if so who should i rent it from? We've never been to europe before and I'm kind of ignorant on where to stay. We don't want to stay anywhere expensive, $300+ a night is way too much but we don't want to stay in a hostel either.
In Rome we would like to stay somewhere that is close proximity to transportation and the major sites. We don't mind walking a little bit.
In the tuscany area, we plan on sight seeing and visiting wineries so we'd like a place that we can come back to and relax. We don't need a spa or anything, just a place with a nice view and peaceful.

Hi, you could check out a variety of options at www.harefares.com/EuropeHotelsAndCars.aspx. Authentic Italy has a variety of apartments in Rome and in the Tuscany region, and there should be a lot of good hotel options. Hope that helps.

More info please.

Tuscany is very large. North or south? Will you be there a full week or only a few days? (it makes a difference for apartment rentals)

Will you have a car in Tuscany?

In Rome, rent an apartment through: sleepinitaly.com; romeby.com; rentalinrome.com; or another apartment agency.

You can certainly stay in a large room with 2 queen size beds - but you'll have to pay for a luxury chain hotel - at way more than $300 per night.

Since you are looking for budget properties you need to look for hotels that have "triples" or "family" rooms - but make it clear that you are talking 3 adults - not a child that can sleep in a cot.

If you go to venere.com you should see some options - but do keep in mind that you are asking for an extra large room - since a regular room will rarely have room for a third single bed.

Hi!
We returned from Italy on Sunday. We were travelling for a month with our teenage son and had no difficulty in finding accomodation. Triple rooms are readily available in a variety of standard hotels. We also had booked a fantastic apartment in Bologna through VRBO(recommended on this forum -thanks, Sandi Travelnut!) and another one in San Gimignano which we found through their accomodation association.
Cheers, Ozlinz

As orlinz says, triple rooms are readily available at many hotels in Rome and elsewhere in Italy. But you must request a "triple" specifically to get a room that will sleep three adults.

You won't get two queen beds (unless you stay at a very upmarket place and pay way over $300), but you can get one room that has a double bed and a single, or three singles, suitable for three adults.

Finding a triple is no problem, but your budget will limit your choices. $300 is only about 185 euros, and you won't find many triple rooms in the center of Rome far below that price, so it will take some research.

You don't say when you are going (and rates depend on time of year), but Hotel Rinascimento is one option in Rome. It has a triple starting at 185 euros/nt.

www.hotelrinascimento.com

The Bed & Breakfast Association of Rome has lots of centrally located B&Bs and apartments. See:
http://www.b-b.rm.it/index.php

Is the $300 budget for the entire time? If so, you can spend far less than that for the Tuscany nights, allowing you to go higher in Rome---or spring for a double and a single. Of course, it depends on the mix of nights in each location.

Tuscany is easy if you forgo the hotel route. In fact, I predict you'll be overwhelmed with the affordable options! We stayed at this agriturismo. They have a 2 BR unit for 115 eu. I don't have a list of 2-bath places, but I'm sure you could find one.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2
Just start researching &quot;apartments&quot; or &quot;agriturismo&quot; in Tuscany. But be prepared for <i>overload</i>. O-)

When we took our 14-year-old son to Europe, mostly we stayed in triples. But occasionally, in smaller towns, we got him a single room. European hotels and B&amp;Bs have real single rooms at a considerable savings. We liked having a break from him, and he liked having his own room.