Hi All
Heading over to Italy with a family of 6 (several kids but in Italy if they are over 2 years old it seems, for the most part, treated as adults). We ARE renting a car (have driven in Italy and other countries and find the experience of stopping and going when you want terrific and great opportunity to meet locals) so want to get that point out of the way.
Question is recommendation for hotels, etc. either in or just outside the cities (we really dont have an interest in renting a villa for a week.) also if you have had experiences with locales with pools that would be great. For hotels we would focus on 2 rooms with triples. Perhaps B and Bs. Have contacted several people on HomeAway but it seems the property I inquire about is not available however there is another property that I am offered (which invariably is not on HomeAway, etc.
Current plan
Milan (2 days with a day trip to Asti)
Venice (3 days, staying at Hilton Molino Stucky, already booked)
Rimini (maybe 1 or 2 days, relax at the beach)
Florence (5 or 6 days, thinking of 2 in Florence and 3 or 4 outside of Florence to make day trips to Sienna, Pisa, and perhaps another town or forte dei marmi (another beach town))
Rome (3 days)
Many thanks for the help of your experiences at these hotels. Also anything with a pool would be great!! Trip Advisor, Bing, Home Away are all overwhelming with information and every hotel has pluses (and some nightmares too)