Recommended Hotels in Rome & Venice

I have no quarrel with those locations and no experience with those hotels. I don't believe that any hotel should make or break your trip. Note that Rick says the Abbazia has "no elevator but plenty of stairs." They would probably hold one of your extra bags near reception, if that means less stair carrying and that's how you've packed them; don't forget to reclaim it.

we stayed at the Hotel Selene in Rome and would recommend it. It is very close to the Termini station. The breakfast was good and we walked to all the sites in Rome. In Venice we stayed at the Hotel Galleria which is right beside the Accademia vaporetto stop. It is situated perfectly for San Marco and a lot of other great sights.

I'm not familiar with the two hotels mentioned but we stayed in Hotel Italia Roma and were very comfortable and the staff was extremely helpful. Any hotel in the RS books is usually a cut above the rest. :)

Why would you book the hotels and then ask for our opinion ? Should it not be the other way around? Is there a particular reason you booked these hotels?

Response to Frank - hotel reservations made with option to cancel weeks ago before I learned about this online forum. As a result of some of the helpful feedback I have already changed my hotel reservation in Venice