Rome for $150

That's about 130 euros, on the low side for Rome in May. Do you have the Rick Steves book for either Rome or Italy? He has lots of lodging recommendations in and around the historic center in all price ranges, along with descriptions of the neighborhoods to help you decide. (FYI, the center of the historic center is the Pantheon/Piazza Navona area.)

The convents are an option, if you don't mind a night-time curfew, usually 10 or 11 pm. I just spent four nights (in late May) at Casa il Rosario, a Dominican convent a couple of blocks from the Forum of Augustus. Clean and quiet with a decent breakfast included, 94 € a night for two people.

Photos here.

What would be a more reasonible number for May then?

You might want to check out apartment rentals - if you are staying several nights. There are a great number of vacation rentals in Rome and you could possibly find something in that price range easier than a hotel.

$150 a night isn't horrid. Last Sept, we stayed at an apt thru airbnb which was steps from the Colosseum. It was a lovely apt BTW and it's $100 cdn a night - so right now, that's prob about $80-85 US a night. (Oh - just checked and for the time of year you want to go, it could be a bit higher - but most likely still under your max - we paid $730 Canadian for 3 people for 5 nights including cleaning and airbnb fee for an early Sept stay). He has awesome reviews. Three night minimum.

You would def have to book way ahead (and with airbnb, you pay up front - though the owner doesn't get the money until your stay begins). We booked in early May for our Sept stay. You'd prob have to book in Dec or Jan, and he has strict cancellation policy. He even gives a discount for 5 nights.

My only complaints was the street noise...easily overcome with earplugs or a white noise app...but you couldn't ask for a better view out the window - the Colosseum - and distance to the metro! And the teeny shower stall was my other issue (not that I haven't been in hotels or B&B with tiny showers) - but the kitchen was lovely, nice bed and big bedroom and room to spread out. And he seemed a little more on the 'up and up' as we had to sign some papers (A temporary lease?), so I'm guessing he's 'on the level' with the tax man (and he lives in the same building). (To clarify - some cities are cracking down on illegal apt rentals with airbnb and other rental companies - Paris and NYC and San Fran I think are the ones doing the most cracking down)

https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/2193487

Some of the places Rick recommends in his books for about your price are in the Monti neighborhood, north of the Colosseum.
They are Hotel Paba, Hotel Raffaello, and Nicolas Inn B&B.

Another popular place is Hotel Aberdeen. http://www.hotelaberdeen.it/en/default.html

Or check out Aenea Superior Inn at http://www.aeneainnrome.com/ Although I didn't stay there, we rented an apartment from the owner a few years ago and he's a great guy.

You're planning waaay in advance so don't be surprised if some of these places haven't made your dates available yet on their websites. Plug in a few dates in early October if you want to get an idea of the rates per room.

You might consider The Beehive. They have a great location near the main train station in Rome. This location offers several room configurations. For sure, book this early if it is your choice.

Re The Beehive and its many locations (apartments and hostel) - be sure to check to see if you would be sharing a bathroom. I would recommend against any of their locations that are to the northwest of Termini, as that's just putting you farther away from the main attractions.

ssh,

You could also consider a double room in a Hostel in that price range. I just checked a Hostel that I use in Rome and they currently advertise double rooms with bathroom for €110 per night. Accommodations will be more basic but in that price range some compromises will probably be necessary.

As I recall, they only accept cash so that's something to keep in mind. The breakfast was somewhat spartan, so I'd suggest finding something at one of the restaurants in the neighborhood.

Try booking.com. Use the filters you care about (there are lots of them), but my advice is to ignore the stars. Choose ratings 8.0 and higher instead. Results will include hotels, B&Bs and apartments.

I have never booked through them. I use them for an initial group of choices, then go directly to the lodgings to see booking options.

www.bonosa31.it in Trastevere

Also look at www.homeaway.com

Hotel Italia is very affordable and we liked it so much we're staying there again this year

http://www.hotelitaliaroma.it/en/

Thanks! Renting an apartment sounds like a great idea to get the Italian feel. Are there any you all would recommend? Also what are the downsides of renting an apartment vs a hotel room?

I'd much rather have an apartment - more room to spread out, usually a kitchen as well in case you want to prepare meals (or even keep snacks/drinks in the fridge). I actually cooked two nights in Rome after we got tired of eating out. Some people like having their beds made and fresh towels every day, but it isn't an issue for me. Do you really need to worry about the bed being made - you're just going to crawl right back into it! (My philosophy at home too...lol - just throw the covers up - doesn't have to be pretty). If you wanted new towels after a few days, you could probably arrange that with the owner.

Sometimes arranging a correct time to meet up with an apartment owner can be a chore. You may get held up or miss a train and end up keeping them waiting. I generally give within an hour time frame and 99% of the time am able to hit that time. But you don't want to be vague and say...I'll be there at 1pm and then show up at 7pm because something caught your fancy - at a hotel of course you can just show up (after check in) and someone will be at the desk.

Some people like having someone at the front desk to ask about places to eat/see and whatnot...I have actually found in all my airbnb rentals (both apartments or just a room with owner present) that the owner/host will have guidebooks about, maps of the city, usually a binder with suggestions for restaurants, places to get groceries, etc. And they are more than happy to give you recommendations.

The only other thing about an apartment is they may require you to take out your garbage when leaving (we did in Rome - the garbage bins were on the corner up one block)...so trying to figure out how to separate the garbage/recycling/compost could be an issue.

But I generally find for the prices that I can get a well appointed apartment, it would cost a lot more to get a comparable hotel...I mentioned our airbnb in Rome - about $150 a night for 3 people - the cheapest hotels in the area (without a separate sleeping area for my mom) were in at least the $200+ range.

You might love the Trastevere area. Lots of apartments there. It's across the Tiber from most of the main sites, so easily accessible on foot. If you do decide to do Trastevere, be sure to look for a place relatively near the Ponte Sisto (bridge) or the Isola Tiberina (Tiber Island). Some places advertise as being in Trastevere but are in fact much much farther south than you might want to be.

There are lots of sites. The most famous are airbnb.com, and vrbo.com, but there is also only-apartments.com, toovia.com, and others. Narrow it down to only those places with lots of recent reviews.

We've stayed in several areas of Rome and the one we keep returning to isn't as popular on this forum. We stay at the Hotel Amalia which is near the Vatican wall and entrance to the museum. It's prices up to their current booking month, March 2016 are from 69-109 €, including breakfast, for a spacious double room with marble bath. We like that we are near great transportation connections (metro and bus), shopping, restaurants (some from Rick's book), historic deli on the corner, the Tiber, the Vatican museum and St. Peter's. We've yet to wait in a line for more than 10 minutes when we can be at the Vatican museum when it opens and St. Peter's before it closes so easily. We can walk or take transportation to other sites in Rome easily. We've had rooms on one side of the hotel where we can see the dome of St. Peter's and we've had rooms on the busier side of the hotel where we can observe every type of person in religious vestment scurrying up the street at all hours in the direction to St. Peter's. We think it is a comfortable, specifically positioned hotel that meets a lot of our needs. In the summer months we appreciate its air conditioning. It has a nice marble staircase and used to have a quaint caged small elevator but the last time we were there they were upgrading the elevator to a modern one--a loss of a little bit of charm. There are a lot of wonderful hotels and apartments in Rome for you to choose from. Congratulations on your 5th anniversary!

Thanks so much these look great. We are interested in the Trastevere area, it looks like a good area.

We prefer apartments over hotels if we are going to be someplace at least 4 nights.

Upsides for us may be downsides for others. One major upside is that most apartments have a clothes washer. A possible downside is that most do not have a dryer. I prefer to hang my laundry outside at home and will use lines if the place has them. If not, I use the drying rack. I haven't run into an apartment yet that didn't have one or the other or both if it had a washer. And we have sometimes washed our towels and/or sheets during our stay.

Another major upside for us is being able to sleep late (my husband) and not miss breakfast, or to get up early (me), have coffee before most hotels start serving and be slow in the morning.

We require a separate bedroom with a door that will close and a bath that is not ensuite so that I don't disturb my husband while he snoozes.

We also require a shower with a shower head or wand high on the wall or overhead.

These requirements, and perhaps some others you might have, are often not searchable on the various services that list apartments. You have to look closely at the pictures and read the reviews carefully to verify that they exist in the places you are considering.

This has great character in Trastevere http://www.hotelsantamariatrastevere.it/
Or near the Colosseum my parents loved their recent stay here http://www.innurbecolosseo.it/EN/index.asp

As I posted bonosa31.it is an apartment in your price range in an excellent location in Trastevere.

We stayed at the one bedroom apartment in this link, Rmap50 for 4 nights in early June. It's small but a five minute walk from Piazza Navona and ten from the Pantheon. It was 110 euros a night. If you stay there have dinner one night at the restaurant downstairs. It was excellent.

Suites Piazza del Popolo. This is a small bed and breakfast located in a modern apartment/condo building. Lovingly decorated by the owners, the rooms are larger than a typical Rome hotel room. It's located just up via Flaminia from the Piazza del Popolo which is an easy place to connect with public transportation and there's a tram on the street right outside the building. Close to tourist attractions, but not in a tourist area, there are local restaurants. Write if you have questions.

An apartment may be your cheapest option. Try cross pollinate.

I'd be inclined to go with apartments as well, and have had better luck with Air BnB and booking.com than I have with Venere, though Venere still has a lot to offer. You're looking a little early for me to suggest last minute cash deals (which work out often, but it's a gamble, and this sounds too special to gamble with!)!

My husband and I just got back from a six-night getaway in Rome this past May and we stayed here: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p803450#ratesAnchor

It's a little under your price range and less than a block from Campo dei Fiori, so VERY central to everything. We really enjoyed the apartment. It was the perfect size for a couple, clean and the service was great. We decided to go with an airport transfer to get to the hotel and were glad we did since our flight was 2 hours late. The transfer service called the apartment owners when we left the airport so they were waiting for us when we arrived, instead of waiting around 2 hours for us to arrive. Even though it was close to Campo dei Firori we didn't find noise to be an issue.