Budget Hotels in the Big 3

Have you tried using the filters you can apply on booking.com? Price, neighborhood, etc.? That usually works well for us. Though you may have to raise your budget just a bit for Venice, which is especially expensive.

Twin beds are not a filter option but usually are offered as a choice in the individual listings, especially in Italy. Note that this usually means the two beds are made up separately, each with its own bedding, but they are still pushed together in the single large headboard. You can see what I mean by looking at the photos.

Using the price* and neighborhood ( Cannaregio) filters for Venice, booking.com came up with 16 options, of which 7 offer twin bed configuration. Of those, some meet the budget limitation only with a non-refundable rate. However, it appears these 3 allow cancellation: Hotel Abbazia (which I have seen recommended by someone here), Il Mercante de Venezia, and Hotel Belle Époque. Most have a more traditional “Venetian” decor, but the bathrooms are modern.

• I did have to set the price filter a bit higher than €125 to see some of these; more like €140.

Once you find hotels using the various search engines, email the hotels directly and ask for the price if you book without using a third party site. Often this results in a 10-20% discount, but do have the hotels clarify their cancelation policies if you book direct. Sometimes it's not as generous as the policies stated on sites such as booking.com.
Safe travels.

Breakfasts in Italian hotels can be nothing more than coffee and some sort of bread--I guess with butter and jam. I always opt out of hotel breakfasts when I can, because it's cheaper to get breakfast in a bar or cafe. Accepting a place that doesn't offer breakfast may increase your options considerably.

Acraven,

We would definitely be open to that! I am open to any and all suggestions.

I have tried using the filters etc but most I've found either look somewhat drab or are located outside of what we would consider walkable for most attractions.

Any specific recommendations are most welcome as well 😊

I'm a budget traveler. I describe many of my hotel rooms as having dorm-room decor. As long as the room is clean, the bathroom fixtures work and the Wi-Fi is OK, I don't really care. Accepting plain-Jane rooms is what allows me to travel as much as I do.

Acraven,

Maybe that's something I'll have to look into. I guess I've always worried that when we walked into the room and it didn't have that "vacation " vibe that it would dampen the experience.

I'd love to take a look at some of the spots you've stayed at to see if they could work if you don't mind sharing?

I planned a trip to go to Rome & Florence with a friend this past May and August. I did all of the planning and used Booking.com to research the hotels. My criteria for that trip was: 8 or higher rating score, twin beds, no payment up front, air-conditioning and a generous cancellation policy. My friend wasn't able to go but some of the hotels that met those qualifications were:

Florence: Hotel Delle Camelie (5 nights for 360 Euro )
Hotel del Nazione (5 nights for 580 Euro, breakfast included)
Hotel Adler Cavalieri (5 nights for 676 Euro, breakfast included)
Rome: Leonardo Rome Termini (2 nights, 267 Euro, breakfast included for Deluxe room)
Hotel Canada BW (1 night, 125 Euro)

As I didn't stay in any of these, I can't vouch for them other than the fact that they met my specifications on Booking.com.

I ended up going solo in August and stayed instead at Hotel Montreal in Florence (5 nights, 455 Euro). It was located about an eight minute walk from the main train station and was fairly convenient for sightseeing. The room (a single) wasn't bad at all...the a/c was great, especially considering how hot it was outside, the room was clean, the shower really good, and the staff friendly and helpful, plus they sold cold Cokes and bottled water for one Euro.

The hotel that I stayed at in Rome was Hotel Marcantonio, for one night at 92 Euro with a simple breakfast delivered to the room. The a/c was really good here as well. The decor was interesting, but clean and the staff very nice. It was located about five minutes from Rome Termini.

As a solo female traveler, I felt pretty safe at both hotels.

On my recent trip, which included three cities in Italy, I had a roommate. She likes to have a tub. I wasn't always able to find a room with a tub, but I tried, and that significantly limited my options. The tiniest rooms--usually the cheapest--will have showers. These hotel rooms were quite a bit larger than my usual average.

Venice: Casa Baseggio (a 1-bedroom apartment)
Venice-Mestre: Hotel Paris
Ravenna: Hotel Centrale Byron
Padua: Hotel Casa del Pellegrino

In Venice, the budget lodging is in the area near the Main train station. If you take the bus from the airport, it drops you at the plaza across a canal from the train station.

the planning queen,

Take a look at The Beehive in Rome. It's more than a typical hostel. I've stayed there twice and plan to be there again in April. The owners, Linda and Steve, are friendly and provide lots of suggestions for restaurants in their neighborhood.

Sharon

Private rooms in hostels can be an inexpensive option for folks traveling in pairs or in larger groups, based on what I've read. I'm usually solo, and a small single hotel room is usually not more expensive than a private double/triple/quad at a hostel. And sometimes hostels aren't very centrally located. I'd definitely check out that option, but I think you have to assume the furnishings will be very basic.

There are also monasteries and convents that rent out rooms. I think some are rather nice. The problem I've encountered with those is that many accept reservations only through monasterystays.com, and if you dig into the fine print you'll see that the cancellation fee is over 100 euros. I won't accept that.

In general terms, the cost of a hotel room is based on:

• The location of the hotel.
• The services offered by the hotel (elevator, restaurant, breakfast, 24-hour desk, etc.), which massively affect the official rating of the hotel.
• The size of and furnishings in the individual room.
• The time of year (holidays, weather issues, etc.)

If you can compromise on one or more of those factors, you can save money by comparison with other hotels in the same city for the same dates. But the most popular cities start out more expensive.

Take a look at The Beehive in Rome. It's more than a typical hostel.
I've stayed there twice and plan to be there again in April.

Sharon, you read my mind! While I haven't stayed there myself, I've followed their reviews for some years now and they continue to be very, very positive. Yes, it's more than your basic hostel, and they offer private rooms in addition to the usual dorm accommodations so no worries about camping out in a bunk bed with multiple other "roomies". The owners are said to be terrific people, and the Aperitivo Evenings (under Activities) look like fun!

Nice to see a firsthand thumb-up from one of our own (the RS forum family).

Have you considered a monastery or convent stay? I stayed in a convent in Sienna - it was great right next to the Duomo. No religious affiliation required & very few have curfews. Very clean, basic rooms with private bathroom & breakfast included. There are oodles of them throughout Italy with fantastic locations & some with spectacular views. For single rooms they generally run somewhere between 40 to 70 euro per ngt - not sure about the price for a double as I travel alone. https://www.monasterystays.com/?d=Italy/Tuscany/Florence-accommodation You can use this same site to find places in Rome & Venice or anywhere else in Italy. Buona fortuna!

One last thing - as Rick recommends, use a third party website, such as Booking.com as a search engine only. Then do a search for the owner's site & contact them directly. Usually a better price as the owner doesn't need to pay a 3rd party.

We found Hotel Vilanni in Florence. It is a small hotel, 1 blk S of the Duomo, with a great terrace on the roof to eat breakfast on or have an apertivo. E125/night with breakfast for 2.

I stayed at the really excellent Appartamenti Paradiso, which is a handful of apartment rentals managed by a couple of really great hosts. It was just over 100 Eur/night in Cannaregio and right on a street full of bars and restaurants. The apartment was in an atmospheric old palazzo, but the kitchen and bathroom were fully modernized. There was a Queen sized bed and a single in the large bedroom. You can find it on booking.com when it's available.

This might be a tad over but it does include breakfast. We have stayed there and loved the location and the rooms. https://www.lacasadelghiberti.it/en

I check booking.com reviews religiously because you can't leave a review there unless you've stayed at the property. The photos, though, are supplied by the lodgings themselves. It would be a good idea to take a look at TripAdvisor photos as well, because you never know whether all the rooms at a property have furnishings of the same standard. More photos are good.

If in doubt about specific features (mini-fridge, tub, air conditioning, elevator access, etc.), it's a very good idea to message the property. Most of the time you'll get a response (probably not if you're trying to get info from the UK chain Premier Inn).

Plenty of hotels, especially non-chain properties, have some abnormally small rooms with views onto an airshaft. Those are usually bargain-priced singles (and if there is a/c, it will not struggle to cool down the room!), but the airshaft situation won't be mentioned in the listing, so you need to read the reviews to find out that such rooms exist. There are budget-chain hotels with some windowless rooms; that characteristic is normally disclosed in the listings. Those rooms are often also extremely small (somewhat like cabins on a ferry boat)--arguably too small for two people to be comfortable in them even though the bed itself may be a decent size. I do not know that this type of property is to be found in Venice, Florence and Rome. However, I had a single room in Rome (found on booking.com) so small that the hotel (I guess after noting I was from the US) messaged me shortly after I made the reservation, warning me about the size. My response was, in effect, "Who cares?". I do think hotels want their customers to be happy, and of course they would be happy for someone to trade up to a nicer, more expensive room if they have one available.

Prices can vary significantly. We’re 2 weeks into a 3 week trip: Rome, Varenna, Stresa, Kastelruth, Rome by train and I used Booking.com. I wanted / need a room on the ground floor (or minimal stairs) or having an elevator, double bed, and ensuite bathroom and my prices per night have varied from $Can130 in Varenna, $C100 in Stresa, $C135 in Kastelruth to $C175/190 in Monti, Rome. I booked most of them months ago. I’ve gone the cheap route previously and had to climb 4 storeys up in Florence centre and won’t do it now.. Generally they don’t include breakfast but we just go out to the local Bar for coffee and a pastry with the occasional fresh OJ. There are cafes offering full American breakfasts but we don’t want or need that. The rooms have all been clean and relatively large, which has been nice today in Stresa when it rained. The rooms in Varenna and Stresa have a full kitchen which we just used in Stresa for coffees in the morning as there is no convenient local Bar and for our wine & cheese mid-afternoon. The room in Kastelruth was cheaper using booking.com with more perks than going directly to the hotel.
These prices may vary significantly by next April. I establish a budget, get prices and book with cancellation allowed and get agreement from my wife that it’s worth it. And so we travel.

We stayed in ‘monastery/convents’ on our trip. They are really hotels, originally for pilgrims. They are pretty much just regular hotels, run mostly by nuns. prices are good, locations excellent. A little lacking in the breakfasts. Booked thru monasterystays.com although you can save if you book direct. Our taxi driver said the one we stayed at in Florence was the best location in town, in Venice we were on a canal midway between Rialto Bridge and San Marco. In Rome we could walk to the Vatican and were near a subway. I know you aren’t going to Assissi, but our room there had a totally unobstructed view of the basilca, just across the field.

We can’t imagine staying anywhere else in Italy if one is available !