Arriving Rome at Midnight (Monday night at 11:30 PM). Best cost effective options?

I'd say suck it up, admit your mistake, and crash at the Hilton right at the airport. Its pricey, +$300. But it is there, there will be somebody at the hotel all night to check you in, and you can sleep in til noon. Then move on to your apartment when it is ready by whatever transportation means you choose.

Sam may have the answer. I checked booking.com. There are several possibilities under $150, but hotels are filling up fast. I don't think you want to be looking for a hotel anywhere at that hour after arriving.

You seem to have about 12 hours until your apartment is ready. I would get a good night's sleep at the airport hotel, relax in the morning, take advantage of the hotel's amenities (pool, workout room), and take a taxi to your hotel in time to get into the apartment. Consider it jet lag therapy.

What 7 hours? You can't check in until 2pm. It will take you an hour from the airport via train and bus or train and cab or cab to get to your apartment. That's a lot more than 7 hours. You can sleep until noon. If you are asleep by 2, that's 10 hours. Or does it take 4 hours to settle and sleep?

Gloria, for three people with baggage, a taxi from the airport directly to your door is a pretty good deal, compared to trains, schlepping baggage, plus maybe a taxi from Termini station. Late at night the taxi should move quickly with little traffic, but there might be a late night surcharge, someone else here probably knows that.
You don't say where in Rome your apartment is. My ideal solution would be for you to locate a hotel very, very near your apartment, with a front desk operating through the night, ideally a room serving all three of you. That way you have flexibility in the morning, sleep in if you need to, wander the neighborhood if you wake up early, could be a different need for each of you, then have a nice lunch nearby, and then ideally just walk your bags to your apartment after lunch. Your apartment owner may know the neighborhood and be able to refer you to such a hotel. Of course, you have left this for one month out, during a peak tourist season, so such a hotel with a vacancy might be hard to locate and/or pricey.

Hey Larry,
That s the best answer for me. Ill \try to find a place close by in Travestere! I thought most hotels would want us out by 10:00 am but maybe this isn't the case. At any rate, it is a great solution and i will start to search out now! Thanks everyone - great ideas. Next time I won't make that same mistake! Lesson learned!

Gloria

Gloria, if you need to check out of a hotel before your apartment is ready for you, you can almost always leave your bags stored at the hotel at no cost. They are used to it, especially when people are traveling later in the day. Also, I think booking.com or other lodging sites ought to be able to help you identify hotels in Trastevere, with a vacancy, and hopefully at a reasonable cost. Then you probably should contact the hotel directly about certain details -- room for 3, desk open for very late check-in, late check-out or bag storage for a few hours, etc. Good luck!

Thanks Larry. that's awfully good advise. You so nice :)

Book a hotel as close as possible to your apartment, that way you can walk to it with your luggage the next day.
If you land at midnight, take a taxi to that hotel. The flat fare is 48 euro and at that time is probably the only option.
If that hotel is sufficiently close to the apartment, you can walk to it without incurring any further costs.
Hotels in Italy have a check out time generally at 11am, but they can make exceptions. In any case you can leave the luggage with them at the reception desk after checking out and walk around town before it's time to check into your apartment at 2pm.

As someone else has suggested, stay at Rome airport Hilton. Here is another reason: They offer free transportation into the city on a bus. We stayed at the hotel, and it's a great choice. Here is the bus information:

Complimentary shuttle leaves from the Hotel to downtown Rome every two hours in even hours (from 8:00am to 10:00pm) and the return is in odd hours (from 9:00am to 11:00pm). The journey takes about 45 minutes. Drop off and pick up are in Via del Teatro Marcello, close to Piazza Venezia.

I'm still thinking of Nigel's question of whether it takes four hours to settle and sleep . . . I can't stop laughing.

i know a website that hosts people for meals (Bonappetour), maybe you can contact the host to let you crash for a few hours and in the mean while get an authentic meal from them and just pay a few extra more bucks.

Gloria, you mentioned wanting to find a budget hotel. Most budget hotels will not have a front desk open 24 hours a day, so check that very, very carefully (and hope for no surprises). 24-hour front desks are more common in expensive hotels and chain-style hotels.

I've been in your position a couple of times, and both times I chose to stay at an airport chain hotel so I didn't have to worry about the front desk actually being open at a smaller hotel.

If you don't want to pay for the Hilton at the airport, I believe there is an Ibis very near the airport – that's a budget chain, but clean, predictable, and modern, with good beds and typically a decent on-site cafe.