Where to stay in Rome/Florence/Venice?
 

Where would you recommend staying in Italy for these cities:

-Rome
-Florence
-Venice

I have a Rick Steves guidebook, but there are so many options, it is hard to know which area to choose!

We aren't looking for anything fancy, just clean, economical, convenient, and interesting.

Just search above by city and you will get hundreds of posts.

You might try www.cross-pollinate.com if you are interested cheaper B&Bs and guest houses and apartments. I think Rick Steves recommends them. I used them for all three cities you mention.

These are the places I've stayed in each location. Definitely economical and interesting on all three accounts...

Rome: http://www.the-beehive.com/
Florence: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...e_Tuscany.html
Venice: http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldet...e/Venice/17540

Thanks all, I appreciate the info.

For how many people?

For how much money? ( "Economical" is a subjective term.)

2 people, private bathroom.

I can't give a dollar amount since it varies from city to city (for example, Venice is going to be more expensive for the same quality you can get in Rome).

Cheaper is better, as long as the hotel is clean, safe, and in a decent location. We're not on a student budget or anything, just don't see much value in paying a lot for a hotel when we only plan to use it for sleeping at night.

You CAN give a dollar amount in the sense of "we can't pay more than $200 per night for the two of us" or something similar.

In Florence, Hotel Pendini -www.florenceitaly.net located overlooking Piazza Repubblica....very doable for walking to most sites. -in an old historic bldg.
Venice, Hotel Gardena -located just around a corner, so to speak from the Grand Canal -originally an old palazzo

two good places that are reasonable and have good locations are:
Ira's favorite in Florence mine as well:
Bed & Breakfast Peterson
Via Guido Monaco, 25
50144 Firenze (Toscane), Italy
+39 348 8428160
A little misnamed as they offer no breakfast, only coffee but there are several stops on the corner and the bus stops in front of the door.
and in Venice:
Al Campaniel Venezia b&b
San Polo 2889
Calle del Campaniel - San Tomà
30125 Venezia, Italia
Tel/Fax (39) 041 2750 749
Fax (39) 027 0053 9748
[email protected]
www.alcampaniel.com
Just off the San Toma Stop, great access to everything in Venice, good price, no view though. Great Candy shop across the ally.

<i><font color=blue>"We're not on a student budget or anything, just don't see much value in paying a lot for a hotel"</font></i>

How does anyone define "a lot?"

IMO, there isn't a budget hotel in any of these three cities that is a particular standout. If one existed, people would be flocking to it and no one could get in.

At the lower end of budget, you get the basics, and that's it. IMO, smaller hotels don't get "interesting" until you add a 100 Euro or two to the rock-bottom prices.

All three cities don't really have an "unsafe" neighborhood. And I've never seen a "dirty" hotel in Italy. You'll find all kinds of characters around train station hotels but I wouldn't call those neighborhoods unsafe, especially in Venice. There are lower budget hotels in almost every neighborhood of each city you mention, so pick your location and go from there. At the bargain-basement price, a recommendation may make you feel better but that's about all it can offer. There are no standouts.

We too were looking for good value accommodation in these three cities: We came up with:

In Rome: http://www.vrbo.com/20263#

In Florence: http://www.casacaterina.it/oriuolo/apartment.html

In Venice: http://www.athomeinvenice.com/

The following also looked good in Venice:
http://www.hotelbernardi.com/en/ (It good a good plu on tripadvisor)
and
http://www.abbaziahotel.com/en/index.htm

Will report back after our trip in December / January.

Let us know what you decide.

I stayed in Hotl Julia in Rome. Modest,clean and I paid about 90 euros 28th August last year. Nice English speaking staff and close to Trevi fountain. Own bathroom. Good thing for me was that the shuttle service from airport went there and I arrived at night.

I can relate to your feelings about hotels because my husband and I are the same way. We don't spend a lot of money for our hotels either. Most of our dinners cost more than the hotel we stay at because that is where we'd rather spend our money. Although it's been a couple of years since our last trip to Italy, I'd like to suggest the following:

We stayed at Hotel Pendini in Florence. They served a nice breakfast and the location was great.

Unfortunately we haven't been to Venice for over 5 years and the hotel we used to like in Rome has changed hands and even though we had a reservation they ended up putting us in another hotel which was a couple of blocks over and not bad but the way they handled the whole thing left us with not wanting to go back. I can suggest staying near Piazza Navona or Campo de Flori. Both areas are really great. I also recommend eating at Cul de Sac which has great food but is easy on the budget. It is one of our favorite places to eat in Rome.

We like Rick Steves more for his recommendations on sights rather than hotels and restaurants. Maybe it was just bad luck but some of the places we tried from his recommendations we were less than happy with.

Here are my recommendations..

LODGING..

ROME...

https://www.romesweethome.it/apartme...nt.asp?lang=it

or

http://www.hoteljulia.it

FLORENCE..

www.sanlorenzohotel.it


VENICE..

http://www.knowital.com/veneto/venic...partment1.html

or
http://anticocapon.altervista.org

DINING...

ROME... www.larcano.it

FLORENCE.....caffe royal or La Canlinetta

VENICE...

Ombre y Cichetti at
Cantina Do Mori
or
DuChamps

In case anyone is interested, here are the hotels we decided on after reading reviews at Venere.com. I was pleasantly surprised at how economical many of the hotels were, especially in Venice:

Total: $347 (Florence, 3 nights) + $250 (Venice, 3 nights) + $646 (Rome, 5 nights) = $1,243

Florence, Hotel Boccaccio:
http://www.venere.com/hotels/florenc...1,20091103,2,1

Venice, Alla Campana:
http://www.venere.com/hotels/venice/...4,20091106,2,1

Rome, Hotel San Francesco:
http://www.venere.com/hotels/rome/ho...7,20091111,2,1

jim,

Thank you for taking the time to tell what you decided.

It looks like you did very well!

Have a great trip.

Byrd

www.lacalcina.com for Venice

<i><font color=blue>"I was pleasantly surprised at how economical many of the hotels were, especially in Venice"</font></i>

$100 per night hotels can be found but there's a trade-off. You requested convenient. Your trip report, if you write one, may illustrate further surprise.

Alla Campana is not easy to find, especially for a first time visit to Venice. Their walking times are based on a Venetian perspective. They provide very detailed instructions because they have to. Let's hope their translation works. You will be traveling light, yes? Because you will need to cart your luggage through one of Venice's busiest shopping/tourist areas before you get to your hotel, even if you get lost. I love strolling the shops of Calle dei Fabbri but so do thousands of other tourists. It's a tight, narrow, busy <i>calle</i>. The building is small and several rooms are super tiny. They have three floors and I believe there is no elevator. If the room is under $100 a night in Venice, there's always a good reason. I think the $100 hotels in Cannaregio are more convenient and easier to deal with. The area is much more quiet.

You may have more luck with Florence but most hotels around the train station are inexpensive. Florence is small. It doesn't matter.

In Rome, your hotel is in Trastevere. Some people don't mind the distance from the city-center but I prefer to stay on the northern side of the Tiber.

Be sure to pack comfortable shoes and enjoy your trip.

You might want to consider a very Italian form of accommodation - staying in a monastery or convent. They are reasonably priced, well located and safe. Have a look at www.monasterystays.com which is a booking service for over 400 but with lots in the cities you want to visit.