Rome Hotels

Maff26

Hi,

I am planning a trip around Italy in September 2011 starting in Rome and would like any recommendations for mid ranged hotels in the city centre, close to most of the main attractions.

Also planning on going from there to florence and was wondering if Pisa was worth a trip out??

Thanks

RichandJ

Can't help with the Rome centre hotels as we always stay in the Cavalieri up on Monte Mario, but Pisa is one day at most. Once you've seen the cathedral/leaning tower & baptistery theres not a great deal else to do.

Ponkle22

Are you on a tight budget for this trip or not? I did a similar trip on a tight budget but made the mistake of staying slightly out of the centre of Rome in a hotel I didn't particularly like. It meant you couldnt just nip back to the hotel if you wanted to have a shower, get changed, grab your forgotten maps/notes, have a rest etc - though you may not need to do any of those things). If I did it again I would pay a bit more and stay in the Centre of Rome. Easier to walk to the sites (or catch buses/trams) and easier to get to the slightly cheaper places to eat out (I found Rome very expensive to eat or I was too tired and hot to try and find the cheaper eating places I had researched before I left the UK).

Regarding Pisa and Florence. Pisa you only need half a day tops to walk around, but it is worth seeing. Then jump on a train to Florence (not advisable to drive into Florence I believe) and if staying on a budget have a look on the net at the Hotel Elite - its the sister site to its main hotel. Both are small hotels, walkable from the station, with a decent priced restaurant only a couple of doors along (sit inside to eat, its cheaper). You can walk to anywhere in Florence from here and come back for a shower or a rest inbetween sightseeing. I got a great room at a great price. Though it doesnt mean all the rooms are great. Not all have en suite bathrooms but I requested one. It was one of our favourite hotels in our trips around Italy. (Though our most favourite hotel was on the island of Ischia on the far side in Forio).

The best place to do your research is in the Trip Advisor forums.

I can't remember if you said which time of year you are travelling.

Good luck.

Maff26

The budget is not that tight but most of the central hotels ive found so far in central Rome are about £100 a night and was hoping to find somewhere nice and accessible for about £50/£60. Travelling in September

With Florence, was planning to stay there (will definately have a look at Hotel Elite, Thanks) and commute across to Pisa for the day (or half day now).

Thanks for the tip about trip advisor forum will try there for more ideas.

Thanks again for your help

Ponkle22

No problem at all - you don't have to type thanks, you just press the Thanks button on the bottom of people's posts.

Apart from Hostels I think £50-60 is the budget end and similar to the cost of the Elite.

On Trip Advisor you can go into the forums - by searching, or by posting a new topic, plus you can go away from the forums, searching for hotel reviews. Generally, you always get the occasional fussy people having a moan in their reviews but if there are lots of them all saying similar things then avoid at all costs.

Not sure if you plan to travel down the coast but going to Naples and over to the Island of Ishchia is a fantastic trip. Depends how long you have....

TravellingAbuela

Hotels in central Rome are really expensive and I doubt you would find anything decent for £50/60 a night. Have you thought of a B & B? Lots to chose from on this site http://www.bed-and-breakfast-in-italy.com/town_area.cfm?citta=Roma&zona=Centro&IDregione=7. We stayed in a lovely one with it's own rooftop terrace but I would not recommend it as it was 2 tram rides out of the centre - not much fun in the August heat when we were there! The only bonus of staying out of the centre is the restaurant prices are much cheaper as you tend to be eating with locals rather than other tourists.

Wellery82

For me Florence was a lot better than Pisa, although it was nice enough in Pisa and the chance to see the tower was good. Apart from that i wouldn't say you would miss much though

Nigbob

My recommendation would be to give Pisa a miss and stay in Florence. In fact, actually my recommendation would be to give Rome a miss too, but that's because I think that Florence is the greatest city in Europe.

You might want to take an early train to Pisa, spend a half day there, then jump on a train to Lucca (20 mins away) and spend the rest of the day there before returning to Florence.

kavics17

Hi, we went to Venice, Florance, Pisa and Rome last year and stayed in Hostels but in private rooms. In Rome, we were right in the city centre, the hostel was called Bavaria B&B: http://www.bavariahostel.com/ We had a private double room, bathroom was shared but there are only 5 rooms or so and 2 bathrooms so it didn't bother us. I can recommend them, they were friendly, breakfast was great and the location was spot on, we didn't use any public transport in Rome, got to the Colosseum within 5 minutes, the train station was 3 minutes away (got the train from Pisa). Not sure which website we booked it through but got some cashback through quidco.

In Florance we also stayed in Piazza del Duomo, it's a bed and breakfast right behind the Cathedral, about 5 min walk from train station. When we arrived,they didn't have our room (which was private double) so they gave us a key to an apartment round the corner which was perfect. Breakfast was in the main building but it was only 2 min away so it didn't bother us. It's this one:http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187895-d1027026-Reviews-Bed_and_Breakfast_di_Piazza_del_Duomo-Florence_Tuscany.html

We went to Pisa from Florance, spent there about 4-5 hours than travelled to Rome. Trains are great in Italy, not cheap though but they are really fast and only stop at certain stations. We had a budget holiday and it was great.

kavics17

Oh, and in Florance, we left our luggages at the train station as getting to the leaning tower is quite a walk, took us about 20 min from train station.

Daxx

http://www.hotelveneto.com/

I stayed here when I went to Rome.

Its about 10minutes walk from the Barberini metro station. And a 5 minute taxi drive from the main train station.

Its a lovely hotel. We had a room facing the internal courtyard, which although had no view was lovely and quiet in the evening.

When we went we paid 300 euro for 3 nights with breakfast included.

The staff were really friendly and helpful and we found access to the main sites easy.

Another thing I would recommend is that you buy a "roma pass" from the train station (metro station) as this cost us 20 euro and covered all our transport on buses, trams and the metro. Important as you can receive an instant fine for not having a ticket on public transport. This also included our entry to the Collosseum and meant that we didnt have to queue either. Quite a big deal as the queues were massive and we went in February (out of peak season). Think it also includes other museums too.

http://goitaly.about.com/od/romeitaly/qt/rome_pass.htm

Also the Vatican museum is free on the last Sunday of the month. It is very busy because of this and you will queue for a while but if on a tight budget then a good option.