Roman hotel dilemma!

[CTKath]

Okay what gives? On Monday I booked our Mediterranean cruise (Yeah!) on the Oceania Regatta for September 2007. I then went to this very board to start the fun researching hotels as we plan on staying 3 nights pre-cruise in Rome and 4 nights post-cruise in Venice. The cruise itself is a 10-day, from Rome to Venice ;) .

 

First I noticed a name for a place in Venice and went to check it out on Tripadvisor. I saw wonderful reviews and emailed the hotel for it's prices for all catgories and gave them my dates. They came back and said that the deluxe category was already booked! I am now the proud owner of a superior double reservation at the Locanda Orseolo in Venice! I grabbed that right away. My cruise booking wasn't 8 hours old!

 

Then I started looking at the posts for suggestions for Rome. What is confusing to me is what area to stay in. If anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate it. I tried pricing different hotels by either emailing them directly or through a website called Romeby.com. Romeby.com also sends your requests to other hotels that might interest you and they respond to you. (I don't really want to stay in the hotel that answered me that they were giving me a break from their cheapest rate of euro 565 to euro 385 and then charging me euro 25 for a continental breakfast and euro 40 for an American breakfast!!) My four top picks so far have been -

 

Nicola Inn

Hotel Santa Maria

St Regis

Residenza Cellini

 

They all came back saying they were fully booked! for September 2007!! So back to my original question - what gives? And can I please have some suggestions. I have some bites on places that responded saying they had room, but I'm just not sure about them. When I go to Tripadvisor the "problems" were either small rooms, small/inadequate bathrooms, mustiness, bugs, location, etc...

 

HELP! thank you!

[sunvalley cruisers]

Did you mean the Nicolas Inn? That's where we've booked. I'm wondering if they misunderstood and they thought you were asking for 2006?

 

Rick Steves recommends the Sir Lancelot which also looks nice. there are some great photos on tripadvisor. There really are tons to choose from so don't give up yet.

 

Also try, Daphne Inn Veneto-Rome

[CTKath]

Ooops, yes I did mean the Nicolas Inn. Thanks. Maybe I'll try them again.

[Cruise Junky]

Don't give up on Rome. At lot of hotels that don't yet have their rates out will automatically say Nothing Available. It's frustrating because you think they're sold out but in fact they're not even open for booking yet. Try speaking to the hotel directly to get clarification.

[CTKath]

Don't give up on Rome. At lot of hotels that don't yet have their rates out will automatically say Nothing Available. It's frustrating because you think they're sold out but in fact they're not even open for booking yet. Try speaking to the hotel directly to get clarification.

 

Thanks, but I have been getting responses back directly from the hotels. :(

[uk1]

Try smaller hotels with a manual booking sysytem ie diary. I'd put cash on that NO hotel in Rome is fully booked - they just haven't opened the dates yet but don't want the debate and want to seem more successful. Most groups and hotels do not open their systems further than 12 months

[Keith1010]

Typically, you can only book hotels 10 to 12 months in advance. Many times when I have tried to book a hotel further out, the web site comes back that nothing is available or if I call the reservation agent they say the same thing or they say that they are not taking reservations. I'm sure you won't have a problem this far out. Also, to play it safe, why don't you have the cruise line add on the hotel program for you for your cruise and then as you find one on your own you could have them remove it from your reservation.

 

We stayed in Rome last Fall and while the Hotel was beautiful it was too remote from the downtown Rome areas. So, my first suggestion to you is to stay close to the major sites so that you can easily get from the hotel to the attractions and back to the hotel. I think you are doing right by staying three nights in Rome. There is so much to see and at least three nights will give you time to see many of the major sites. Obviously, you could spend weeks there and not see everything, but I do think that three nights is good. Venice you can see in less time. Another wonderful city.

 

Again, I tend to book things very early. We book our cruises as soon as we can and then the challenge is waiting to get inside the window when the hotels will take reservations.

 

Keith

[vacationhappy]

I have found booking when booking early that you need to book directly with the hotel - right now, I have found I can't book anything online after March 2007.

[CTKath]

I am getting offers from some hotels - the Abitart, Trilussa Palace, Hotel Golden, Hotel Veneto, Alberg Ottocento, Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi and Hotel Gladiatori to name a few. (I'll take anyone's recommendations on these if they have them).

 

My point was that some others have said that they have no rooms at all for September 2007 and I thought that odd. But these are hotels & B&B's at the top of Tripadvisor's list.

[Keith1010]

I stayed at one of the hotels that you mentioned; The Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi. It was wonderful. The only drawback is that it is far from the major tourist attractions.

 

As I said, most hotels will not accept reservations until you are within 10 - 12 months of your stay. If one of the ones you have spoken with will take the reservations, find out what their cancellation policy is and if you can cancel later on just make a reservation now so you have something and then keep trying the others as you get closer to the window when many start taking reservations.

 

And, if many are really booked up this far in advance, get something somewhere now.

 

Keith

[CTKath]

I stayed at one of the hotels that you mentioned; The Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi. It was wonderful. The only drawback is that it is far from the major tourist attractions.

 

As I said, most hotels will not accept reservations until you are within 10 - 12 months of your stay. If one of the ones you have spoken with will take the reservations, find out what their cancellation policy is and if you can cancel later on just make a reservation now so you have something and then keep trying the others as you get closer to the window when many start taking reservations.

 

And, if many are really booked up this far in advance, get something somewhere now.

 

Keith

 

Thanks Keith, that's exactly what I was thinking!! I actually think I'm going to go with the Trilussa Palace Hotel. I can get a jr suite for 885 euros for all three nights, and it's in a quiet area.

[suec12]

You might want to check out http://www.venere.com. It has a nice map of the different areas of Rome. Not sure how far out it lets you book - I think you will get the same rates off it as thru the hotles. Also has some reviews tho not as extensive as Tripadvisor.

[Mark_in_Colorado]

I am now the proud owner of a superior double reservation at the Locanda Orseolo in Venice! I grabbed that right away. My cruise booking wasn't 8 hours old!

CT, I certainly don't mean to rain on your parade, but I would double (and maybe triple) check your reservation with the Locanda Orseolo to make sure it is for 2007. I could swear that I have seen on the Fodor's board that they only take reservations a few months out. If indeed it is for 2007, lucky you, it gets rave reviews on several boards.

[GracieAtTara]

We stayed at the St. Regis one night pre-cruise in fall of '04. The hotel is near Termini Station rather than near the main attractions. Since we had such a short time in Rome and used a private tour guide who picked us up at the hotel we weren't concerned about staying in a hotel near the sites. The St. Regis hotel is wonderful! Big room for European standards, nice marble bathroom, good service and the breakfast buffet had many choices. St. Regis is part of the Starwood Hotel group (Westin, W, Sheraton). Also, I just checked on the Starwood site and none of the hotels in Rome show as being available, so as others have stated it's likely they just aren't taking reservations at this time. We are planning a trip for next year as well and are looking at the St. Regis again as an option. Hope this helps!

[Cruise Junky]

St. Regis is part of the Starwood Hotel group (Westin, W, Sheraton). Also, I just checked on the Starwood site and none of the hotels in Rome show as being available, so as others have stated it's likely they just aren't taking reservations at this time.

 

That's interesting.... I just booked Starwood properties for August 2007 for London, Paris and Barcelona...I wonder why Rome isn't open?

[nparmelee]

When I started looking last year for our hotel for this year's pre-cruise stay in Rome in June, I had to wait until about a year out before I could book, but was able to get the hotel we wanted. Just wait another month or so and try again.

[CTKath]

CT, I certainly don't mean to rain on your parade, but I would double (and maybe triple) check your reservation with the Locanda Orseolo to make sure it is for 2007. I could swear that I have seen on the Fodor's board that they only take reservations a few months out. If indeed it is for 2007, lucky you, it gets rave reviews on several boards.

 

Mark, I appreciate your concern, but I truly have a 2007 booking as you can see in this quote from their email to me, (they bolded the dates). :D

 

"We have herewith great pleasure in confirming that we have reserved for you from 2nd October (check in) to 6th October 2007 (check out), total 4 nights a nice and large twin bedded room Superior overlooking the canal Orseolo at the rate of 250.00 Euro per night, all included."

I am so excited about staying here! And I have all this time to look forward to it!

[Mark_in_Colorado]

Mark, I appreciate your concern, but I truly have a 2007 booking ...I am so excited about staying here! And I have all this time to look forward to it!

Kath, glad to hear it. Everyone seems to say great things about the Locanda Orseolo, I hope to stay there someday myself. Good luck on Rome, sorry I don't have any suggestions.

[CTKath]

Kath, glad to hear it. Everyone seems to say great things about the Locanda Orseolo, I hope to stay there someday myself. Good luck on Rome, sorry I don't have any suggestions.

 

Thanks Mark, I've decided to book the new Trilussa Palace Hotel in the Travestere area. I've heard this is the heart of "old Rome" and where the locals go to eat. That's fine with us!

[ocean.queen]

Kath...you are arriving at Locanda Orseolo as we are departing! Got our reservations a few weeks ago. This will be our second visit to this wonderful hotel. It is just as special as everyone reports. We wouldn't want to stay anywhere else. Hope you have a fabulous time in Venice.

 

Kathy

[Sandy R]

CTKath... we were in Rome last June and visited the Travestere area. It is definitely the "old Rome" and IMHO could also be called somewhat seedy. It wouldn't be an area I would stay in as a tourist. It's also quite a long walk to the major sites. Perhaps others will chime in and say I'm wrong but if it were me, I would keep the reservation and search other hotels more centrally located. You might even do a search on this board for hotels in Rome. Also check what tripadvisor has to say about different hotels in Rome.

 

Sandy

[Trixsea]

I stayed at the Lancelot Hotel last October and highly recommend it. It is located near the Colesseum and most sight were within walking distance. The owners of the hotel were very accomodating. The rates include a buffet breakfast which is very adequate to start the day. Can't wait to go back!!:D

[cruzingracie]

Hi,

 

We cruised the Med last September and flew into Rome 4 days early. We stayed at the Palatino Grand Hotel. Here's the link. http://www.hotelpalatino.com/

 

I found this via research and was very pleased with it, especially its location--well, for us anyway. It was directly across the street from St. Peter in Chains, a few blocks away from the Forum, Arch, Piazza Venezia, and a few more from the Colosseum. We took a cab to the Vatican and back. The next day we cabbed to the Piazza Navonna and walked to St. Angelo Castle, Trevia Fountain and all the way back to our hotel -- not sure, but think it was about 2 miles. It was great! We had an Executive Suite with a balcony with a nice view. It has a restaurant and bar, but we only ate breakfast there -- not bad, especially the fruit and danish!

 

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have questions.

[MVPinBoynton]

Thank you all for the information on Rome and Venice hotels. I was going to wait a few months to book hotels for our May 2007 Grand Princess Venice to Rome cruise, but seeing that ya'll were able to book for next year, I started looking. I am certainly glad that I did. My top choices for hotels were already booked solid. CTKath, be glad you got Locanda Orseolo. It sounds wonderful, but we will have to try it another time, if we are able to book more than 13 months ahead. Fortunately, I was able to find some good hotels in the area I wanted for fair prices. Now all I have to do is find a decent airfare for next year.:eek:

[dpro]

Okay what gives? On Monday I booked our Mediterranean cruise (Yeah!) on the Oceania Regatta for September 2007. I then went to this very board to start the fun researching hotels as we plan on staying 3 nights pre-cruise in Rome and 4 nights post-cruise in Venice. The cruise itself is a 10-day, from Rome to Venice ;) .

 

First I noticed a name for a place in Venice and went to check it out on Tripadvisor. I saw wonderful reviews and emailed the hotel for it's prices for all catgories and gave them my dates. They came back and said that the deluxe category was already booked! I am now the proud owner of a superior double reservation at the Locanda Orseolo in Venice! I grabbed that right away. My cruise booking wasn't 8 hours old!

 

Then I started looking at the posts for suggestions for Rome. What is confusing to me is what area to stay in. If anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate it. I tried pricing different hotels by either emailing them directly or through a website called Romeby.com. Romeby.com also sends your requests to other hotels that might interest you and they respond to you. (I don't really want to stay in the hotel that answered me that they were giving me a break from their cheapest rate of euro 565 to euro 385 and then charging me euro 25 for a continental breakfast and euro 40 for an American breakfast!!) My four top picks so far have been -

 

Nicola Inn

Hotel Santa Maria

St Regis

Residenza Cellini

 

They all came back saying they were fully booked! for September 2007!! So back to my original question - what gives? And can I please have some suggestions. I have some bites on places that responded saying they had room, but I'm just not sure about them. When I go to Tripadvisor the "problems" were either small rooms, small/inadequate bathrooms, mustiness, bugs, location, etc...

 

HELP! thank you!

You may want to reconfirm that they are quoting you for 2007. The reason is that I tried to book the Nicolas B&B on Via Cavour for Oct 2007 and they indicated everything was booked up. When I asked them to reconfirm the year, they sent me this email:

 

We did not realize your reqeuest for 2007. We will not be taking requests

for October 2007 until November 2006.

 

Regards,

 

Francois & Melissa Nicolas

 

I did book the Best Pantheon B&B in Rome with a confirmed 2007 date, but some other of my preferred choices indicated they would not book this early for 2007. We wanted to go back to 58 Via Cavour, Real de Luxe B&B, due to its terrific location, but Luca would not allow us to book for 2007 this early, even though we were former guests. Hope this helps.

 

RonC