Good afternoon,
Planning a trip to Italy in March. I still need to book one night in or around Rome before a morning flight from Fiumicino.
What do you recommend for a general location to enable relatively easy access to the airport?
Are there any specific hotels etc that would be recommended?
Thank you!
We flew out of Rome in November. Stayed at the Hilton hotel that is connected to the airport. It was a 10 minute walk from the hotel to the airport. The walk is fully enclosed and safe.
You have not given the day of the week, or the time of the flight. Many people like that Hilton on the FCO grounds. You literally walk 300' outdoors from the hotel door to an elevator tower that deposits you on the airport concourse level. Of course it's still a hike to the check-in. No taxi, no bus needed.
Having stayed at this Hilton myself, I'd note that it's expensive, there's a constant line at the check-in and check-out desks, and the restaurant may close early for your dinner, if you need one. We had a room against the elevator shaft, and it was noisy. But that could happen anywhere.
I'm sure there are lots of off-airport properties that you could read about by using the Search box top center here. Some of them would use a third-party shuttle company, so check shuttle hours (and PRICING) before booking. That's hard to do if you book with a third-party booking site.
At what time do you need to be at the airport?
Back in November, we had to be at FCO at 6:30, so we settled at the Rome Airport Hilton. You are paying for the convenience of being connected to the terminal via a covered walkway. The hotel was in much better condition than others had reported here - perhaps my wing had been recently refreshed. It has a reputation for being expensive.
The Hilton Garden Inn is near the airport, and offers a shuttle.
Some recommend staying in the nearby town of Fiumicino, where rates can be much lower - Some hotels may offer a shuttle, otherwise a cab would be required.
And many others say just stay in Rome and take an early morning cab, or if your flight is late morning, the train.
Here's a link to search results for the topic here on the travel forum:
Thank you for the quick and detailed feedback.
For reference we fly out at 0930 on Sunday March 17th.
Have a great weekend!
My sister, who has traveled frequently in and out of Rome (they have a direct flight from LAX) recommends staying in nearby by Fiumicino instead of an airport hotel. This is a beachside town and only 10 minutes from the airport. Some of the hotels have their own airport shuttle; others and smaller B and Bs will arrange a taxi for you.
We chose this boutique hotel for our September trip:
This is their shuttle service to the airport:
There are other hotels in Fiumicino that are less expensive. Just search on booking.com
It really depends whether you want to rest the night before or enjoy a last night in Italy out and about. With a 9:30 flight, you can certainly stay in Rome, enjoy a last meal, walk around and soak up the atmosphere. Cabs are plentiful and fixed price, or you can book a car service to pick you up.
I usually stay in Fiumicino and enjoy the beach, a fish dinner and a short ride to the airport. But before I lived in Italy, I was a fan of staying in the historic center and grabbing all of Italy I could get.
Lola's recommendation for Fiumicino looks lovely, or just check booking.com for an endless number of guest houses. I have only picked one bad one so far.
For downtown Rome, I've enjoyed Navona Queen Rooftop, a short walk from Piazza Navona. It's small and cozy. You didn't specify how fancy you prefer, this one is medium-fancy. The rooms and especially the rooftop bar are very nice but maybe due for a refresh. The owners are really wonderful.
We did this last October, with a 10:00 am flight. We chose to stay in Fiumicino at the Hotel Tiber, with easy walks to the waterfront and pier. We found excellent pizza at Pizza Al Porto next to the hotel, and gelato right behind the hotel, and it was a simple and calm end to our 17 days in Italy. We enjoyed our gelato back on our balcony watching the sunset…perfect.
https://hoteltiberfiumicino.com-hotel.com/en/…compare rates with Booking.com. I think Booking.com was cheaper than direct with the hotel when we were traveling, which often is the reverse.
The hotel has a shuttle to the airport, 7€ per person. Reserved our spot when we checked in. That was cheaper than the €25 taxi ride we took from the FCO train station to the hotel! We left Rome for a few days in Orvieto, so our train went through Rome and on to Fiumicino. For us it was a lot less stressful being close to the airport before our early flight. Would recommend…and by that point in our trip, we were ready for something easy.
Laurie
In the immortal words of 30 Rock's Liz Lemon - "Don't overthink it". Stay at the Rome Airport Hilton.
I would not say it is “overthinking” to consider staying at a nice little hotel in Fiumicino, 10 minutes from the airport terminal by taxi or shuttle. I have read that it takes that long to walk from the Hilton into the terminal. Also that the Hilton is overpriced, a bit rundown, and offers only “passable” food in the restaurant. All to be expected of an airport hotel with a captive audience. I consider airport hotels to be a last choice when in Europe. When one has the chance to spend one’s last evening of a memorable trip enjoying the experience, why spend it at a soulless chain hotel, with nothing to do but watch TV or go to the workout room?
My sister says that their routine upon departure is to arrive at their Fiumicino hotel around 3 or 4 pm, check in and drop their bags. They go for a walk on the beach until sunset, maybe stopping somewhere for an aperitivo. Then around 8 they go to a local seafood restaurant for a nice relaxing dinner, squeezing the maximum amount of pleasure from the last hours of the trip, in the place they came so far to experience.
I’d say that is smart thinking, not over-thinking. And we will give it a try in September.
Also that the Hilton is overpriced, a bit rundown, and offers only “passable” food in the restaurant
As I mentioned earlier, my room at the Airport Hilton was immaculate, and I suspect that the wing I was on, if not the entire floor, had been refreshed recently. My traveling companions were in a separate wing on the same floor, and had no complaints - and they had dinner in the restaurant and survived.
There have also been reports of long lines checking in - we had virtually no wait. And if you install the Hilton Honors app, you can check in virtually and use your phone as your room key.
I took a long 10 minute walk over to the terminals to scope out where we would check in the next morning, and found a quick dinner landside in Terminal 3 - there is an outpost of Eataly and an Autogrill Cafe up one level from departures.
But this is not to totally defend the Hilton - having done it, I would also opt for staying in Fiumicino if faced with another early morning departure.
We stayed at the Rome Airport Hilton in April 2022. We had zero wait at check-in, the person who checked us in went out of her way to be helpful. We shared a good club sandwich in the bar and had a couple of good gin & tonics. The room was very clean with a comfortable bed. The walk to the terminal was no big deal to these senior citizens.
We had an early flight in the morning. We needed a good night's sleep and a stress-free trip to the airport - that's what we got.
I'm definitely with Lola on the plan to squeeze the last enjoyment from your trip and avoid airport hotels. I enjoy Fiumicino a lot, it's a typical Italian beach town with lots of little coves and piers to walk along or even wade in if you want. Lots of good restaurants too. Or stay in the city. But hotel airports are expensive, and rob you of any joy your last night.
However, there is one airport option that hasn't been mentioned. Hello Sky is an independent lounge with some rooms for overnights. It is on the pedestrian skybridge between the terminals and the parking garages. The rooms are very plain and small but there is a bit of lounge food and it's only a 3-minute walk to checkin. That's what I booked for my daughter's 6 am flight last week as mornings are not her best time (understatement of the year.)
The two times we visited Rome we arranged transportation to the airport through the hotel and stayed in town. I don’t believe our flight was as early as yours so staying by the airport seems like a good idea.
We stayed in the airport at Hellosky. Very convenient for early morning flights. The rooms were spotless and modern. We didn't hear any airport noise. We just walked out of our room, down the hallway and into the airport the morning of our flight.
Wonderful feedback
Thank you all!
