Bologna - alternate base?

Use Booking.com as a resource for lodging. Pricing depends on your desire of amenities and location. I find Booking.com the most comprehensive with reviews only listed by travelers who have actually stayed at the lodging. There is a price range feature as well as an assortment of desired features you may require.

Thanks. I’ve used Booking and many other searches, but Bologna is just out of my price range. Really hoping for advice on an alternative location.

I’m flying in to Bologna for 4 nights on April 1 for much less than 300 a night. Hotel University in central city. 2 months or less may be pretty late to get a booking however. Good luck.

Thanks for the tip Lyn - it’s not available for my dates but maybe I can tweak things. I’ll check it out.

What about staying in Verona and using that as a base? You could visit all the stops you wish along that train line: Padua, Vicenza, Sirmione, Brescia, and even Venice if you want to go that far. Verona is a lovely town. That could be a northern part of your trip to complement the [relatively] southern of Florence and Certaldo. Or look at Padua, which may be less expensive than Verona. My budget is cheap and I have found places to stay in all of the towns you mention during high season so I believe its possible but at this late date maybe the prices are higher. I am staying in Bologna in June for 4 nights for much less than 300/nt. I used Airbnb. Maybe my standards are lower - lol.

We also paid close to $300euros per night in Bologna. I guess it’s just expensive to stay there, but we did enjoy being centrally located. Perhaps, since it is expensive, shorten your stay by a few days.

I don’t know where in Bologna you were searching but I just did a cursory search on Airbnb for mid May for six nights and the maximum not including taxes I found to be $781. For six nights, including cleaning fees, is a great deal. City center, close to the centrale, which means easy access to the trains for day trips. Yes, by all means use booking,com for your searches or Airbnb, but, after 14 years of being Airbnb members, we’ve found the best way to book these places, once you find a place that’s to your preference, is to search for that place and see if they have their own website and booking process. Many of them do cross post on many sites and one can book directly. In Italy, as in most parts of Europe, airbnbs have to be registered with the tax authorities, otherwise people can get massive fines, so they’re all classified as hotels or BnB’s, so contacting them directly has always worked out for us. Also when staying at Airbnb’s in Italy you’ll need to send your passport information before arriving. Every single Airbnb we stayed at in the last 9 years has done that. In Italy, at least. That’s why we book directly and also avoid booking.com because we’ve had major issues with them not giving refunds.

You might look at Ferrara. It is a very pleasant town about 30 minutes from Bologna. I spent 3 nights there in the fall. I stayed at Hotel de Prati which I would describe as a Rick Steves style family-run hotel. It was centrally located, basic and clean, nice breakfast, and helpful management. Several people on this board highly recommended Hotel Annunziata in Ferrara if you want a more upscale hotel.
This post on Ferrara helped me decide to stay there:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/thoughts-on-ferrara

Bologna hotel prices can be really high when there are special events in the city. In Bologna, I stayed at Zanhotel Regina and paid a total of 418 EUR for 4 nights for a single room in October. I thought it was a good deal. The hotel is modern and about a 10 minute walk from Piazza Maggiore.

Three suggestions: (1) I only visited as a daytrip from Bologna, but Parma might be a nice base.
(2) Bologna hosts many trade fairs at various times during the year. Hotel availability and prices seem to be affected by the trade fair dates. If you have any flexibility in your days in Bologna, you might find more places in your price range if you can shift your dates by a few days.
(3) I found Bologna so convenient as a base for daytrips, I would still want to stay there. I found numbers of less expensive not widely advertised B&Bs on this site https://www.bed-and-breakfast.it/en/bologna?checkin=10/10/2024&checkout=10/15/2024&NumberRooms=1&NumberPeople=1&Children=&q=Bologna&tiporicerca=citta. These often don't show up on Booking.com. I stayed at Casa Margot.

Thanks everyone for the great tips and advice. I was able to change my dates a bit (avoiding a weekend), and that brought things down over $100/night!

Sometimes there are trade fairs who affects a lot the prices of hotels, because the most of them are just sold out one year before.
Last week, for example, there was Cosmoprof: 250'000 visitors and probably 30% foreign ones who need a room. That of course affect a lot the prices.
Not all trade fairs are so impacting, but some ones yes.
So: when you find prices so high check if changing only few days there are great differences.
BTW: when hotels are sold out in Bologna usually even other close cities are affected too, like Modena, Imola, Ferrara or Ravenna.