Rome airport hotel

My last trip I stayed the last night at the Marriott airport hotel. There is NOTHING nearby! You are basically stuck in the hotel. You must schedule the shuttle ride for the morning, it does not run automatically.
Given a choice I wouldn't do it again. I spent all that money to go all that way, so I'll enjoy my last night in the city and have the hotel arrange for an early morning taxi.

What's early Gail? From anywhere downtown Rome to the airport by taxi is less than 30 minutes with no traffic (and if it's early, there is NO traffic). If it's that early, it's not a flight that goes to the US, because there is nothing coming to the US before 9:30am. So it's probably a flight within the EU. For flights within the EU all airlines at Fiumicino require that you have consigned your luggage to the check-in desk 45 min. prior to the time of departure and have your boarding pass in your hands. That way you have 45 min. to go through security and walk to the gate. So if you reach the airport 1h and 15min before departure time, you will have 30 min. to consign your luggage. Leave downtown Rome on a taxi exactly 2 hours prior to departure time and you'll get there 90 min. prior to departure. That's way more than necessary for a EU flight.

One thing I did not mention is that we will have a rental car and are driving it back to the airport from Matera in southern aitaly. Really want to avoid driving into Rome proper to drop the car off.

Then find something on the beach towns of Fiumicino or Lido di Ostia or even nicer in Fregene (north of Fiumicino). At least there is a little more life than in the middle of nowhere and you can stroll along the beach and have dinner at one of the many restaurants and cafes. That area gets really busy in July and August (and on weekends even June and Sept), but otherwise it's very pleasant for your last evening in Italy. Lido di Ostia is bigger and really busy in summer. Fiumicino is slightly quieter and smaller. Fregene is even more quiet and more upscale. Check online. I've never stayed there overnight. The closer to the beach the better, more restaurants and bars and people watching.

Check out hotel Tiber.

Gail, If you have a "generous" travel budget, the Rome Airport Hilton is about the most convenient option I can think of. You can easily walk from the Hotel right into the Terminals via a covered walkway. There are some "moving sidewalks" in the walkway as I recall, but last time I was there they were "out of service" for maintenance. Happy travels!