Places to stay in Rome, Venice, Florence, Paris

Pauline, Do you have Rick Steves' guidebook for Italy? He lists places that meet your criteria. I like ot identify places Rick recommends that fit my needs and budget, then double-check them on Trip Advisor. Sometimes TA leads me to alternative options. I used this process to find Ai Tagliapietra, a fine B&B in Venice, last year. You might start there, but do yourself a favor use Rick's guide. Then you can sere a variety of options in one place, instead of getting only one or two per city from a few people on this board.

Rome--Hotel Lancelot
Florence--Hotel Silla Both in good neighborhoods, good food, friendly staff, clean, safe places.

If you are going to pitch up in Venice during Carnevale, that is high high season, and any bargains are usually booked 6 months or more in advance. In Rome and Florence you will probably find the lowest rates of the year. Try using tripadvisor.com to look for hotels in your price range. The reviews are usually pretty accurate. Be suspicious of a reviewer who has only made one contribution to the website and is either wildly for or wildly against a hotel.

Rome - Hotel Napoleon, about 15 steps to the metro. Faded Grandueur but still very nice w/inclusive bfast. They will bend over backwards to meet your every need. Fabulous local little Trattoria Vecchia around the corner: http://www.trattoriavecchiaroma.it/index.html Venice: B&B Venezia Down at the tip of the island in St Elena...away from the tourist hoards and in the middle of the locals with green grassy parks and trees. Very walkable to San Marco and a vaporetto stop St Elena. Florence:Residenza Il Villino with Sergio and Elizabetta as your host family. View of the Duomo from the top floors. They'll treat you like family. It's in the university district with lots of students around. Michelangelo's David is just around the corner. Paris: Hotel Royal Phare in the 7th. Ecole Metro 15 steps from front door, 2 atms located on wall at front door, markets and bakeries all around, rue cler out the front door and left 1 block, then left on rue cler.

I want to second the recommendation for the Hotel Lancelot in Rome. I've stayed there three times and wouldn't use any other hotel in Rome. Their family will treat you like family. You also have the option of eating dinner in their inhouse (not open to the public) restaurant. Do yourself a favor and checK them out!

Here is where I stayed in the above mentioned cities (and liked very much, would stay at these places again and again): Rome: Hotel Sonja, not too far from Termini, 91 euro per night. Venice: Al Ponte Mocenigo, ask for room 5, it will be a room with a balcony on a canal. 120 euro per night and cheaper if you pay cash. FLorence: hotel loggiato dei serviti, they gave us an amazing upgrade as the hotel was very empty. The room was 2 floors and bigger than my own house. 90 euro per night. Paris: Hotel Champs du Mars, even though everyone says they treat you like crap, they did not treat us like crap. Dont remember how much, but less than 100 euro per night. We travel at the end of Nov/Beginning of Dec so room prices are a bit more affordable at that time

We found a great rate through Citea. A bit impersonal, and about a 1/4 mile walk to the train station, but they are little studio suites with kitchenettes which is nice because you can purchase breakfast and lunch at the supermarket and then just eat out for dinner. Or we often packed a sandwich for dinner and ate out for lunch because it's cheaper to eat at good resturants in the afternoon. They're in one of the side neighborhood of Paris.

Rome: Bed and Breakfast Al Centro di Roma. Great location, nice clean room, very affordable. Florence: Soggiorno Battistero. Absolutely wonderful bed and breakfast (delivered to your room, includes hard boiled egg, toast, juice, tea, coffee - really great). It's about 4 stories up and there's no elevator so it's much cheaper. It is literally on the square where the Duomo is. Could not ask for a better location. Ask for a room with a view of the Duomo and you will literally be right in front of the Baptistry. We had a room on the back which is a quiet square and still gives you a great location. Could not recommend this hotel any more! Paris: We stayed at the Grand Hotel Leveque. We had a bad experience with one rude woman who worked there, but it is right on Rue Cler which is a really cute pedestrian street (Rick Steves talks a lot about it) that has lots of food shops. We put a great picnic dinner together and walked to the Eiffel Tower. It was awesome. And it's not too far from a metro station. But I don't think anything in Paris is too far from a metro station.

In Paris, the Marais and Latin Quarter are great locations (walking distance to many of the most popular sights) and usually less expensive than other areas. I have walked around the Rue Cler area that RS is so enamored of. It is quiet and somewhat far from "what's happening." In Venice, the Dorsoduro is less pricey than around San Marco and quite close. You can easily be a 15 minute walk from San Marco and a 5 minute walk (or less) from a vaporetto stop on the Grand Canal.

I can highly recommend Hotel Beaugency at 21 Rue Duvivier. It is a short block off of Rue Cler. I found this to be a very clean, safe place to stay. I was traveling by myself and never felt ill at ease. Breakfast is provided for a small price. The desk is manned 24 hours a day with people who speak English and are happy to help you with sightseeing information and making reservations. The Rue Cler neighborhood was very relaxing to start and end the day. It is very close to a lot of the sights I wanted to see and it is a very short walk (a couple of blocks) to a metro station to take you anywhere else you want to do. The price was really reasonable for such a nice hotel. hotel-beaugency.com If you are going to Paris, check out Tom's Guide to Paris online. tomsguidetoparis.com
He gives a lot of ideas that many tourists don't ever see.

Last November we spent a few days in both Venice and Rome...did alot of research prior for accomodations, paying particular attention to comments from people who had stayed there before. In Venice we stayed at the Hotel Gorizia a La Valigia (www.hotelgoriziavenezia.it)...fabulous place at a reasonable price, great location, price included breakfast. In Rome it was Hotel Raffaello (www.hotelraffaello.it)...another wonderful surprise...we wished we could have stayed longer...great location again, reasonable price, and again included breakfast. This place is within walking distance of the Collisieum.We have recommended both of these places to friends and would stay there again in a flash. With both places, we found them on Expedia, but in the end went directly thru the hotels as they had better specials at the time.

Venice- Alla Vite Dorate B&B (110 euro high season) Florence- Dimora Degli Angeli B&B (130 euro high season)
Rome- Rome Armony Suites B&B (110 euro high season) All are highly recommended!

A favorite of ours is in Venice, actually Dolo just outside with some really easy access. It is: Villa Gasparini. We stayed there 2 different times. Our best price was thru booking.com 70E, the best breakfast room in Europe and gold fittings and marble in the bathrooms. Just excellent. And we spent 5 mths this year in europe.