Looking for advice on Rome.....

I always stay at hotel Julia. It's close to the piazza barberini metro stop, walkable distance to Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, and borgese gallery. Plenty of busses and taxis at hand. The price is good. The breakfast is excellent!

I've stayed right around there and the area is excellent, but the price for Julia is about $150/night (without breakfast). You can do better, but maybe not around there. Hotels closer to the train station (Termini) are likely to be cheaper and not a bad location - not right near the train but off via Nazionale or via Cavour. I've seen recommendations here for the Beehive Hostel, closer to Termini so not really walking distance to many sights, but with good bus and metro lines. They, like most hostels, have private rooms. Look at hostelz.com for more hostel options. I just took a peek and the first one that came up for mid-October was Orsa Maggiore (women-only) - single room with shared bath for a mere €55.62/night. Nice location too. There are hostels with private rooms with private baths (en suite). In many, the dorm rooms have their own baths, so you are sharing the bath maybe only with one or two other private rooms.

I have paid far less than $100 per night at Hotel Fori Imperiali Cavalieri, near the Colosseo, for a single including breakfast. Small, family run, 24-hour front desk, very helpful staff. Look at their website for special deals. Mini-fridge in the room, even some singles have balconies.

A nice terrace on the roof as well.

October is super high season in Rome, a very popular month to visit. The vast majority of smart travelers on a budget book this month way in advance. $100 is 84€. I can't imagine anyone finding a decent room for 84€ a night in a prime location during this month. I don't even think city center hostels are that low. Maybe a convent, if you can find one that has a room. There are a few well-reviewed budget hotel options in the area around Piazza Navona, but I sincerely doubt you'll find 4 consecutive nights available at this late date. You can expect prices at those hotels to start at 125€, which is $145.

Airbnb is worth a look. I have plenty of budget friends who use it in Italy with great success.

NYCTravelSnob, perhaps you missed some of the other responses to the question. Clearly there are places to stay for under $100/night, as attested by personal experience.

Try the website for hotel Julia. I found a single room in mid October there runs about 60 euro per night, well below the $100 per night budget.

The OP specifically wrote "historic center," and named a few sites. I realize some people apply generous boundaries to the term "center." I don't. To me, the historic center is Piazza Navona/Pantheon. It happens to be my preferred area to stay, not only because it is most central, it's also a lovely area, especially for a first-time visit.

Rome is a large city. If you're willing to stay further away from the historic center, you'll find cheaper accommodation. IMO, location in Rome is EVERYTHING. "Center" is worth spending a little extra.

I punched in random dates for Oct on Booking, and there is nothing available for under $484 for four nights nearest to P. Navona. Availability always depends on specific dates. I never said it would be impossible. I said I'd be surprised if someone could find something acceptable (by my standards) for 84€ in the center.

I'd be surprised if any reliable historic or geographic source would exclude Largo Argentina, the Palatine, and the Roman and Imperial Forum areas from the "historic center". The Comune di Roma counts these areas as part of the Centro Storico. So I'll take their definition. These areas have been more or less continuously inhabited for over 3000 years, and together with Piazza Navona (my favorite, too), Pantheon and Campo dei Fiori, contain about 80% of the most-visited sites in Roma.

Historic sources would teach that the center of Rome changed throughout history. Certainly, at one time, the Palatine and the various Forums were considered the center of Roman life. Today, the Palatine and the ancient Forums are relics of their former self, and they take up plenty of empty real estate (not empty of tourists). There are residential neighborhoods surrounding these large ruins, but because of the ruins and the voluminous street traffic surrounding them, those neighborhoods lack a certain charm and intimacy, IMO.

Campo dei Fiori is basically across the street from Piazza Navona. Largo di Torre Argentina is three blocks south of the Pantheon. These well-known spots are most commonly included when someone refers to the Navona/Pantheon "center."

Every hotel in Rome will use the word "center" as a marketing term. They want tourists to believe that their hotel is the most convenient to all of Rome's sites. If Vatican City, Trastevere, the Colosseum, and Piazza di Spagna/Borghese are on your to-do list, you simply can't go wrong by centering yourself near Piazza Navona/Pantheon.

There are certain streets in the Navona/Pantheon center that should give a tourist pause if they care about noise. Via dei Pastini and Governo Vecchio are wall-to-wall tourists. Corso Vittoria Emanuele II is a busy, loud street at all hours. Corso del Rinascimento has car and truck traffic. The streets framing Largo di Torre Argentina are busy with vehicles and cats. Campo dei Fiori is known for late night noise because younger folk like to hang out there. Still, there's plenty of quiet to be found in this exciting area if you choose your hotel with care.

We've stayed in my definition of "central historic Rome" several times and have not been in Pantheon or Pizza Navona area: no problem. In fact, our last location was in the Quirinale and we though it was a great location: easy walking to Termini, Trevi, Spanish Steps/Trinitia dei Monti, Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Maria degli Angeli/Baths of Diocletian and lots of other interesting places.

We also walked to Trastevere, the Colosseum/Forum area, the Borghese, the Vatican, Piazza Navona, the Aventine, Piazza del Popolo and you-name-it from that location. That doesn't mean one HAS to, if not much of a walker, but Rome is such a fun city to explore on foot when at all possible!

Our last hotel is out of your price range but I looked up Angela's Hotel Julia - which just happens to be right down the street and around the corner from that last hotel on Via delle Quattro Fontane - and Zoe's Fori Imperiali Cavalieri, and think you'd be fine at either. The Beehive, which Chani mentioned, is VERY popular for its rates, clean, comfortable accommodations and proximity to the Termini transit hub so for the money and a little bit more shoe leather, you'd do fine there as well.

It's a terrific city, Lauren, and I'm super excited for you! :O)

Editing to add: I second the votes for the Paris Museum Pass for that part of your trip. As with any pass, you have to do the math against the time that you have and what the pass covers but we easily broke even on that one.

Thank you all so much for the advice! It's so helpful to have a forum like this when traveling to Europe for the first time. Special thanks to Kathy for seconding the Paris museum pass! For the price I don't think I can go wrong with that. As for this post specifically, I looked into Hotel Julia, and also looked at hotels nearby. I found one, Hotel Boccacio for $69/night!! It's a small hotel .2 miles from trevi fountain and .2 to the Spanish Steps. Granted I'm a little uneasy about the shared bathroom, as I've never stayed at a hotel without my own bathroom before, but I did my due diligence and the reviews seem pretty good! It's a 1 start hotel so nothing fancy, but it's my first time in Rome, so I don't think I'll be spending too much time in my room anyway. If anyone has stayed there or has any thoughts about the area (right by Piazza Barberini) please let me know! Now that my hotels are booked for Paris, Venice, Florence & Rome I'm going to start looking into tours to take in each city. Be on the lookout for those posts! You guys are the best.
Thanks again,
Lauren

Piazza Barberini area is perfectly nice. Congrats on scoring a nice, affordable hotel nearby !!!

My wife and I plan to go back to Rome next spring. After much research we made a reservation at Hotel Oceania, US$94, includes breakfast. It is located near the places you wish to visit and has great reviews.

I can also personally recommend Nicolas Inn, 3 block from colosseum. Our rate in March 2015 was US$125. We stayed there and it is highly recommended. We want to be closer to the train station on our trip there next year or we would stay at the Nicolas Inn.

Enjoy your trip to paradise

We have always had good luck with the local tours offered by the TIs. We seldom book in advance because of weather consideration. On arrive in Rome hit the TI in Termini (it is huge) and see what is available.

Piazza Barberini also has lots of transportation links (bus and metro), in case you get tired of walking. Very close to Galleria Borghese (get tickets in advance).

You will be very close to one of the best gelaterias in Roma, Come il Latter. Yum!

Now that my hotels are booked for Paris, Venice, Florence & Rome I'm
going to start looking into tours to take in each city.

Yay for you! As far as tours, all three of these cities are easy enough to explore on your own with a good guidebook + maybe some audioguides. There's not a thing wrong with tours but as I sense you're on a tight-ish budget, it's worth the mention? More spare $$ for gelato! It's been forever since I last saw Venice but we had no problem doing Rome and Florence on our own. and a lot of RS posters have done the same with Venezia.

Purchasing advance tickets to the most heavily visited attractions IS advised though, and there can be an advantage to a tour at the Vatican Museums. That said, we can chat about that when you post your questions, OK? :O)

I'm so pleased for you. Great location. Consider getting a transportation pass - 48 hrs/€12.50 or 72 hrs/€18. It's good for all buses, metro, and trams. Individual rides are €1.50 each.

In Venice I highly recommend the tours by Alessandro, it was highlight of my last trip, and very affordable as it includes food and wine.