Places to stay in Rome?

I'm heading over to Rome for a few days with a friend in May 2013 and we're trying to figure out good areas/places to stay while we're there.

Does anyone here have any tips or suggestions for accommodation in Rome and/or what to see and do?

Neither of us has really been to Italy before and we don't know Rome at all, so we're kind of looking in the dark here .

We only need somewhere for 4 nights (Mon to Thurs nights) and preferably want to be close to as many of the main sights as possible namely Vatican City, St Peter's Basilica, the main piazza etc. - so I was thinking maybe the Vaticano area or somewhere close by (my best friend from school went to Rome for her honeymoon and said they stayed right near the Vatican Museums) - and then we can travel a bit further to the Coliseum etc.

Ideally, we don't want to spend too much on accommodation, but would still like to be in a relatively decent place/area. I've had a look at the possibility of short-term apartment lets for the 4 nights, which seem to be around £40-60 a night for the cheaper ones and look really nice, otherwise we'd be looking for B&B-type accommodation, rather than proper hotels.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be very much appreciated .

I love Rome, and I have been there several times. I ALWAYS use AirBnB.com for my stays there.

What to do?

Honestly, you cannot go wrong - do everything. The historic sites are free!

Eat everywhere. The food is great.

HAVE FUN!!!!

I won't be much help with accommodation. I stayed in hostels-cheap and easy to get to things. But a good guide book before you leave, and that can help you sort it what's what. Italy's a great place to just explore. You don't need a huge agenda. Enjoy!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Just read that again and saw how many words my phone changed-sorry about that.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Lonely Planet has a good pocket guide for Rome.  They feature a hotel/hostel called The Beehive which is close to the main attractions and owned by a friendly American couple    The website is http://www.the-beehive.com/.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ is also a good source for looking up B&B reviews as well as attractions.

We've been to Rome several times, but usually stay at a B&B in Albano Laziale, its just a short train trip into Rome.

The people that own it are just wonderful, its like staying in a museum as Mario had a job dealing with antiquities and Mary is antique dealer/artists.  Every morning before we would go into Rome or where ever, she would tell us what to look for in paintings and sculptures,,it was almost like having an art lecture for the day!
the website is www.bb-alberogemello.com.  I highly recommend them!

I stayed at Hotel Giardino.  It wasn't fancy but was perfectly adequate and quiet/safe.  I felt the location couldn't be beat.  I walked to all the sites and never once needed to use public transportation.  This was back in 2005, so it might not be a bargain still, but the location was right smack in the center of the city.

I can't recommend the hotel I stayed in (Hotel Lazio on Via Vincente), but the area was good. We were right by Termini station where you can get a cheap terravision bus to/from the airport and we could walk everywhere. I think I took public transportation once the whole time I was there.

Having looked at the Beehive link posted above, it's right in the same area, but looks like a much nicer hotel/hostel!

Thanks for the replies, guys .

Lonely Planet has a good pocket guide for Rome.  They feature a hotel/hostel called The Beehive which is close to the main attractions and owned by a friendly American couple    The website is http://www.the-beehive.com/.

Thanks, ricksgirl . Strangely enough, I got the Lonely Planet Rome pocket guide for Christmas and there are no hotels or anything mentioned in it at all  . However, I have ordered the larger Rome City guide, which I had a look at in store and it does have the section on hotels/hostels.

I had a look at the Beehive website and it looks nice - I'll see what my friend thinks about it too (unfortunately, since we live in different cities it's not all that easy to get together to sort something out!).

We've been to Rome several times, but usually stay at a B&B in Albano Laziale, its just a short train trip into Rome.

The people that own it are just wonderful, its like staying in a museum as Mario had a job dealing with antiquities and Mary is antique dealer/artists.  Every morning before we would go into Rome or where ever, she would tell us what to look for in paintings and sculptures,,it was almost like having an art lecture for the day!
the website is www.bb-alberogemello.com.  I highly recommend them!

Thanks - I had a look on the website and it looks really nice, but unfortunately, as we are flying into Fiumicino airport and they only offer a free pick-up from Ciampino airport (they charge 80 Euros for pick up from Fiumicino!), it's probably too far out of the way for us .

I stayed at Hotel Giardino.  It wasn't fancy but was perfectly adequate and quiet/safe.  I felt the location couldn't be beat.  I walked to all the sites and never once needed to use public transportation.  This was back in 2005, so it might not be a bargain still, but the location was right smack in the center of the city.

This one looks lovely as well, but annoyingly they have no rooms available for the dates we're going to be there .

I stayed at the Luxor Hotel which was on Via Nazionale and very centrally located.  The hotel was small, but the staff were wonderful and I was travelling alone out of the US for the first time, so that was welcoming.  However, that was in 2001, so I'm not sure if the hotel is still there or if it's still the same.

A great site to check out for hotels (and a lot of them are NOT pre-pay) is www.venere.com.  I use it all the time when travelling.

If there's no availability for your selected dates at The Beehive (info@the-beehive.com), the owners may refer you to their other website which is Cross Pollinate (http://www.cross-pollinate.com/).  Cross Pollinate also lists other accomodation that are close to Termini Station in the centre of Rome.

If there's no availability for your selected dates at The Beehive (info@the-beehive.com), the owners may refer you to their other website which is Cross Pollinate (http://www.cross-pollinate.com/).  Cross Pollinate also lists other accomodation that are close to Termini Station in the centre of Rome.

Cool - thanks .

I haven't inquired about availability yet because I'm waiting for my friend to get back to me with what she thinks about The Beehive, but for me it's looking like a good option .

I didn't see the email address before and thought I would have to use the reservation form to inquire (and include my credit card details), but I'll email them to ask about dates .

Strangely enough, I got the Lonely Planet Rome pocket guide for Christmas and there are no hotels or anything mentioned in it at all  . However, I have ordered the larger Rome City guide, which I had a look at in store and it does have the section on hotels/hostels.

Having used to work for a travel publisher... They decided to cut back on the hotel listings and add more sights and restaurants due to reader feedback. In short, research was showing that fewer people were using travel guides to find a hotel because they can't read reviews. Trip advisor (and the like) has really changed travel publishing.

Having used to work for a travel publisher... They decided to cut back on the hotel listings and add more sights and restaurants due to reader feedback. In short, research was showing that fewer people were using travel guides to find a hotel because they can't read reviews. Trip advisor (and the like) has really changed travel publishing.

I wondered if that would ever happen! I mean, we tend to hold onto guidebooks for awhile, and once they get years out of date - the accommodations & restaurants may have changed, gone out of business, etc. But the sights & maps stay much the same. We do tend to use TripAdvisor mostly now for accommodations, although I think the TA restaurant recommendations can be a bit dodgier from what I've heard. 

I wondered if that would ever happen! I mean, we tend to hold onto guidebooks for awhile, and once they get years out of date - the accommodations & restaurants may have changed, gone out of business, etc. But the sights & maps stay much the same. We do tend to use TripAdvisor mostly now for accommodations, although I think the TA restaurant recommendations can be a bit dodgier from what I've heard. 

You can get an "idea" from tripadvisor, I normally look at the top 20 or so then google around and search, but yeah, TA you have to take with a pinch of salt.

The London restaurant recommendations, for instance, are insane. Ben's freaking cookies is at number 15 O_O Raison d'etre, a perfectly acceptable baguette shop is at number 10?! Soho Joe's is at number 34, above places like the Hawksmoor or Duck and Waffle. Madness.