Places to stay in Italy and London

Still like to search on Caupona,com and eurobooking.com. these sighhts allow you to look for hotelsin an area of the city to help you narrow it down. Such as in Rome you can search Rome and Spanish steps or Trevi or Termini or Coliseum

best incr your budget for Venice, Rome, London or settle for bathroom down the hall. It is no big deal sharing bathrooms somehow it is only americans that use the bathrooms for a long time and do not keep them clean. I thought as you do for yrs but as my budget is tight I have given up the bathroom in my room and have saved alotn with no regrets.Ck Garden Court hotel 2 blocks from Kensington Park, Hotel Aberdeen in Rome 2 blocks from train station.

For Venice, look for hotels in the Dorsoduro area. The location is very convenient,the closer to the Academia, the better, and the hotels seems to be somewhat cheaper.

There are several reasonably priced hotels in Florence that are central. There are also a couple of hostels that are quite good. I've stayed at Archi Rossi and been quite satisfied, very clean and you can get a double ensuite for much less than $150/night.

I stayed at Base2stay Kensington in London and LOVED it. Very central, super clean, small kitchenette, sparkling new ensuite bathrooms, nice staff, walk to Victoria and Albert and Natural History Museum,, two tube stations close by. I paid 90 GBP this past June for a single.

No way would I take a night away from Rome,, you barely have much time there at all!! If you really had or wanted to do it though,, I would give that night to Florence. I have been to Venice twice, both times only 2 nights, but really I didn't feel cheated by just a short visit.

I don't mean to suggest that Florence doesn't deserve three nights, but if you've never been to London you might consider cutting one night in Florence and adding it to London. Since you have to get there from Venice, sightseeing time will be limited on your first day. You won't have time to do much of anything on the day you fly home so that leaves you only two full days to explore the city.

I'm with the others on sharing a bathroom. To me it's a non-issue.

Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions.

We are thinking now of staying in a rental for 5 days (Apt. style) The price is pretty much the same. Any suggestions on this?

London is beyond FABULOUS. We spent two weeks there in May 2009 and another two weeks this May. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Kensington, 100 Cromwelkkl and highly recommend that hotel. It is diretly across from the tube station. We used the tube every single day. We also took Gray Line day tours both inside London and outside London (Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, Cotswolds' etc.) The Gray Line tour operators either have you meet at Victoria Station or they pick you up near your hotel. They picked us up right across from the Crowne Plaza. We also used the tube to go to Cambridge and Oxford. We loved Cambrindge, but disliked the Oxford area. Kew Gardens is a must. You can get there by tube also. The transportation options are incredible in London. Also go to Harrods just to eat. We had high tea there (beautiful setting) and also ate the delicious lunch buffet served upstairs. Make sure you go to Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens. Just walking through Hyde Park is so picturesque. We did it twice this trip alone. My husband and I plan on returning to London, as we still haven't seen everything London has to offer. There are way too many places to visit even in two weeks. The Goring Hotel offers a pricey, but gorgeous and delicious special dinner.

In London, look for hotels near train stations. I've stayed near KingsCross/StPancras, Paddington, and Victoria. I look for convenience to transportation as well as low cost. The Paddington area works best for me since that's the train station I usually use for out-of-town trips.

For Italy, I have sometimes used venere.com to find budget hotels. I've also used the hotels suggested in the Rick Steves books. That is true for all the countries I've visited.

Outside London, hotels and B&Bs tend to cost less. Try staying in smaller towns such as Salisbury or even Bath. You won't save money by using the outer towns to commute into London; train transportation costs will eat up any savings.