Hotels in Rome?

[dmooers]

We are booked on the Golden June 27th from Rome to Southhampton. We plan on going into Rome two or three days early. We are initially looking at the two Princess Hotels, the Crown Plaza and the Grand Flora. The Grand Flora is almost twice the price. Does anyone know anything about these two hotels? Is one in a better location for sight seeing? Does anyone have a recomendation for a hotel other than the ones that Princess is offering?

Thanks.

[katisdale]

We had a three day pre-stay in Rome before our cruise in May, 2004. Princess put us at the Crown Plaza. I would NOT recommend this hotel. You can get a much lower price if you book it yourself. However, the room we were assigned was very worn and the beds badly needed new mattresses. The springs had given out and I think when we laid down our bottoms were only 3 or 4 inches off the floor. In addition, the electricity went out one night. We called the front desk and were told a "technician" would be right there. He never arrived and the next AM when we went to the front desk they criticized us for not notifying them. The transfers from the airport to the hotel were very good. From the hotel to the ship, all Princess "guests" had to be out of their rooms by 9:00AM but the bus did not begin boarding until after 1:00PM. Do I need to say "no seating" available. We wanted to go back to Rome (for our own sanity) and had to fight with the front desk to get a place to put our carry on luggage. The hotel is in a nice residential like area and the cost of a taxi into the main tourist areas is not bad but I cannot remember what we paid. It is possible the worn bedding has been replaced since we were there so long ago.

[jennifers490]

I was just in rome in july, the grand flora is on via veneto which is a very fashionable street, you can walk to things but it is a bit far. I stayed at the Excelsior for free but didn't think the area was worth the outrageous prices. If you can get a good price through expedia on Hotel Dei Mellini, I stayed there a few nights as well and it was in a very good location, very nice clean rooms and excellent staff. Included breakfast where the larger hotels usually don't. Walkable to the vatican and just across the river from the spanish steps...save the money and use it on the cruise! They were also very good at arranging cheaper car services to things than if we'd called ourselves. Have a great time!

[rkacruiser]

When I ended my Royal Princess Fort Lauderdale to Manaus to Rome cruise in April of 2004, Princess used the Crowne Plaza and the Grand Hotel Palace as their post-cruise hotels. The Grand Hotel Palace is just down the Via Veneto from the Grand Flora and probably could be booked for less than the Grand Flora. I found the Grand Hotel Palace to be very good with a very pleasant staff. Breakfast was included with eggs cooked to order was available if one wished.

 

My transfer stopped at the Crown Plaza en route to the airport and everyone with whom I spoke (and these were fellow Royal Princess passengers) had complaints about the hotel. katisdale's comments echoes what I heard. Even though it is called the Crown Plaza Vatican, it was not near the Vatican. The cost to stay at that property is less, but based upon what I heard, this was the classic case of "one gets what one pays for".

 

Staying on the Via Veneto at the Grand Hotel Palace, I found to be a good location with many sights well within walking distance(i.e. Spanish Steps) and many cafes and restaurants in the area. The American Embassy is directly across the street from the hotel.

[shellbeachjim]

You may want to check out http://www.venere.com. They have 477 hotels listed for booking in Rome, almost all with reviews. Hotels in Rome tend to be very expensive and it's very difficult to figure out from a website whether a hotel is nice or not. After all they are trying to make themselves look as good as possible, aren't they?

[cruznliz]

I guess we're easy to please. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Vatican independently last May and thought it was fine. Even the bed was pretty good. I think the only downside is that it is maybe a mile from the Vatican, but the streets are such that it can't possibly be walked. Very heavy traffic and few sidewalks. The Crowne Plaza has a free shuttle to the Vatican every morning at like 9:00 AM and then a free return shuttle picks up near the Colliseum at about 4:00 PM. That saved us a bundle on taxis. They also have a free shuttle to and from the airport. I would book it independently. Don't go through Princess. If you have ever heard of the Entertainment Book, we got it through that for about half of what everyone else was charging. I think we paid about $165 per night or something like that. We stayed there post cruise and took the train from the ship into the city. Again, an amazing savings. ;)

[GrammaZ]

We were in Rome at the beginning of September and stayed at the Daphne Inn. Not part of the Princess program, totally on our own. Wonderful location (can walk to everything except the Vatican, and can cab it for 12E) and exceptional staff and service. Basic but very clean and affordable. Highly recommend it. There may be a minimum number of nights for their rooms. I think it was three. We stayed four. Rome Cabs picked us up at the airport to the Daphne and then took us to the pier four days later. Highly recommend them as well. They were the most economical of all I researched. Stefano is great. Have a wonderful time.

[seattlekckckc]

Hi! We took the Med cruise from Rome at the end of September, and we stayed 3 ngihts in Rome beforehand. We booked our own through Expedia, as I thought the Princess hotels were waaay to high for me. We did spring for the $75 PRincess transfers from the Crown Hotel, we took a cab there. For me, I wanted to stay in the cheapsst 3 star hotel I could find, still fairly close to the city. Here is what I found. We were at the Hotel Pineta Palace - great, basic room, huge balcony, but in a residential neighborhood. They had a pay shurttle to Vatican City and the DT area, but the best part was an amazing breakfast spread - YUM! I makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

 

BUT, if I could do it all over again, I would for sure pick a hotel right on the Metro line, red or blue line, it does not matter. They make a X shape and intersect at Termini station. If you save money and stay out of the center of Rome, but can hop the Metro, you can be in town in just a few minutes. We loved taking the Metro, it was super fast and at $1Euro for 75 minutes, the bargain of the century, everthing is very expensive in Rome. DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT rent a car or especially scooters, not if you actually want to be alive to board the cruise that is. The drivers there are seriously deranged, like nothing I have EVER seen!!!

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Casey

[sacway]

Rome is our favorite city in the world, with hotels for every taste at most every price point. We like the small hotels in the Jewish Ghetto/Campo de Fiore area (Cardinal, Teatro di Pompeo, Arenula http://www.hotelarenula.com, I forget them all) because it's walking distance from everywhere but also right on a bus line, has a good mix of local residences, businesses, and hotels, and plenty of great food and shopping at reasonable prices. One of my friends likes the Margutta http://www.hotelmargutta.it/ near the Spanish Steps and Via Condotti. You can check price ranges and descriptions on sites like Fodors or Frommers http://www.frommers.com/destinations/rome/64_indacc.html, where the web guides have info on a selection of hotels, including website addresses; the websites may be rudimentary but you can get an idea what hotels look like and get phone numbers and email addresses to contact them directly. Rick Steves has a nice little piece on the problem of web-based hotel reservations at http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/bookings.htm.

We make inquiries on availability and pricing by fax directly to the hotel, as many hotels are small family run operations though I think a lot of them do bookings by email as well. I'd avoid hotels near Termini (the train station), it's a rather seedy area IMHO. As an independent traveler, book as early as possible, if affordability and location matter to you. Every room is different in these hotels, so you might want to see several when you check in, to compare noise, views, layout.

 

Have a great trip!

[jwitt2]

We were in Rome 2 nights before sailing on the Royal Princess last May. We had booked the Grand Flora, but it was full, so we ended up down the street at the Regina Baglioni, across from the Excelsior. It was outstanding, very lovely. We walked up to the Grand Flora, it is very impressive also, but just a bit further from things. We walked to everything, even the Vatican. We saw the Crowne Plaza when we dropped off and picked up other Princess passengers there. We were glad we had spent the extra money to be in the city since time was limited. It must have been 45 minutes or an hour bus ride from that hotel into the city. Have a great trip, it is a magnificent city.

[cruznliz]

As I said, it was only 1 mile from the Crowne Plaza to the Vatican. Less than a 10 minute drive by taxi or hotel shuttle. It was inconvenient because it wasn't right in the city and we are hikers by nature. But you couldn't walk it because of the heavy traffic and no sidewalks. But the free shuttles made it worthwhile. We would stay there again. ;)

[jwitt2]

I made a mistake, it was the Sheraton which we saw, not the Crown Plaza. Sorry. But I would still spring for the big bucks and stay closer to the action. We are in our 60's and still hiked everywhere. On the last day when we were to go to the ship, there was a package you could get to take you to the Vatican on the way to the ship. We had already paid for the transfer to the ship, so walked over and back on our own to the Vatican. That bus did fill up, so if you are interested, don't dally; some people ended up sitting in the lobby after they checked out of the room until the bus came in the afternoon to take them to the ship.

[Juliadlf]

We just returned from a 12 day med cruise and stayed 1 night post cruise at the Hotel Lancelot. Excellent location for us and easy walk to most sights. Its located in a residential area near the colosseum. They also arrange transport from the pier to the hotel and from the hotel to the airport. Check them out on TripAdvisor. If you decide to use them ask for one of the rooms which has a balcony. It was around 158 euros per night and includes continental breakfast.