Greetings! The Rick Steves site was a world of information for us while we were planning our trip to Italy last year, so, I thought I should share our experience at our B&Bs. First off let me say that we would stay at all the B&Bs again. With the exception of the B&B in Siena all were centrally located next to the sites we wanted to see. Even though the B&B in Siena was a bit of a walk (did not bother us, we love to walk) we would stay there again. So here are the places we stayed at during our October 2014 trip. Also, as a side note I am 61 and my husband is 72. I think for our 17 day trip to Italy (15 nights) our rooms average $150/night. I would have to revist that again but it is pretty close. Siena was the cheapest and Venice was the most expensive.
Al Centro di Roma (Rome): We stayed here for 4 nights. We stayed in the largest of the 3 rooms and it was perfect. The bathroom was small but very functional with little shelves for storage etc. The B&B arranged for a car to pick us up at the airport (which I highly recommend) and added the price to our bill as we did not have any Euros upon arrival. The B&B is close to the Pantheon and we walked (we do love to walk) to the Coloseum, Vatican, Borgehese (even though our Host thought we were crazy) Gallery etc. Our host arranged for the taxi to take us to the bus station upon our departure and was very helpful with everything. The breakfast was basic but enough for us. Coffee, juice, toast, cereal, yougurt, pastries. I do believe that everything was basically store bought. Our host made Cappuccino (sp) for us in the morning if we asked.
Buonenotti (Siena): We stayed here for 3 nights. It was smaller than our B&B in Rome but lovely. Our room had a small balcony that had a nice view. The breakfast here was more home cooked. Our Host made most of the pastries and there was cheese, meat, yougurt, etc. We even had scrambled eggs one morning. Very accomodating, if you have special needs just ask and see if they can accomodate you. This B&B is maybe a 20 or 30 minute walk into the heart of the city. During our first walk into town we found an amazing place for dinner! I am still dreaming about the lemon pasta. One word of warning! We took the bus from Rome and our Host gave us very good directions on how to reach the B&B. You have to change buses in Siena (buy your ticket at the Tobacco shop and ASK where to catch the bus). However, we got off at the second stop instead of the first and wander for about an hour before an elderly man (who spoke no English) helped us find our way.
DeiMori (Florence): We stayed here for 2 nights. Maybe a 15 minute walk from the train station. And yes there are 48 charming steps to climb to get to the top. If this is an issue find another place. As I mentioned we are older and did not have a problem....even with our luggage....travel light! Guess we are in great shape. This was probably the most "eclectic" of the places that we stayed in and if I had to rate them it would rate at the bottom. Not to say we would not stay here again. The rooms were not as nice as our other B&Bs. The sink was not in the same room as the bathroom and the bathroom was tiny. The shower was very tiny. BUT! The location was great. The breakfast was the basic coffee, tea, juice, yougurt, pastry. I believe the only thing that was homemade was the bread and boy was it good! Upon arrival two lovely girst met us about halfway up the stairs and helped with the luggage and invited us to relax and have a glass of wine on the house. There was also a small frig in the hallway that you could buy water, beer and wine at very resonable prices.
Stay tuned for Part 2 when I will review Cinque Terre and Venice!