Rome for two days, post Cruise. Any suggestions on where to stay??

I can offer you hotels in Rome that are unique, but in terms of "convenience" what you seek does not specifically exist. Rome's "pier"aka cruise ship terminal is at Civitavecchia, over an hour away from Rome proper. Rome's airport (assuming Fiumicino) is also about an hour away from downtown, historic Rome where all the sights are. And Civitaveccchia and Fiumicino are also about an hour away from one another. To be near the sights, you will have to stay in Rome's historic core, which is essentially the area between Termini Rail station and Vatican City on the far side of the Tiber River, and between the Villa Borghese Gardens at the north and EUR at the south side. I like Residenza Antica Roma, Relais dei Papi, Albergo Ottocento, Residenza Domizia, Antico Palazzo Rospigliosi. None are "budget", but all are reasonable. Rome is FULL of historic and /or locally characteristic properties.

Thank you, Loretta. I very much, appreciate your detailed reply!

For my 5000th post, it appropriate for a cruise out of Rome. We have done three. We always stay in the Termini area - Sonya, Aberdeen, and Contilla. Meets all your criteria except unique. All three hotels, we prefer Sonya, are walkable from Termini when the train from Civit.... ends. Hotel Sonya can arrange a shuttle service for about an hour run to the airport. We prefer the Termini area because it is walkable from the train and you don't have to deal with Roman taxi drivers; it is the hub of Rome transit system; the hop on/off buses start at the plaza in front of Termini; as do many of the buses. It is on the edge of the major attraction and walkable but a long walk. We can walk from that area to the Vatican in an hour or take a bus to the Vatican and work you way back at the end of the day. It is a heavy commercial area as would be expected around the train station but does have some nice, semi-local restaurants that we like. We are comfortable with the area and have stayed them five times.