taxi at Fiumicino airport

Info here: http://www.roninrome.com/%20transportation/getting-to-fiumicino-early-in-the-morning

I would be very surprised if any taxi would be interested in a 2km fare from the Garden Inn to T5 or T3, and you're right that their shuttle doesn't start until 6AM. The Hilton does have a 24 hour shuttle that will take you to T5 so you can miss the adventure of getting on the bus from T3 to T5, and it does sometimes have competitive rates if booked far enough ahead. We are in a triple for 130Euros for our night before we fly to FRA and then home, however, our flight leaves at 0620 from T3 so we don't need 3 hours to check in. In the past,we have had no problems with an in-city hotel getting us a taxi at o-dark-thirty to FCO; 40 Euros is still 40 Euros!

I doubt if the 6:20 departure is an international flight requiring the use of T5 so you could get by with a 5AM check in.

Thanks very much for all your help. This is a great site for learning. I forgot to mention that I have to drop off a rental car at the airport the night before we leave(terminal 3) as the Budget car rental office hrs. are 7am to 11:30 pm. That is why I was thinking about staying at an airport hotel as we will already be there to drop off the car. I did not realize that it was such a pain to get a ride to the airport at an early hour. Maybe I will rent a car outside of Rome somewhere and take a train into Rome the day before we fly out. (We are driving around Tuscany for a few days before we drop off the car.)

For an early morning flight I stay at the Hilton at the airport, a five minute walk into the terminal. fyi the rental car return is not well marked, so you may have to do a few laps to nail it. The hotel has a very nice pool

Many of the hotels in Fiumicino arrange early morning shuttle service. They know that's the reason why people stay out there. Even if their shuttles start at 6:00am, I believe that many of the hotels know how to get a shuttle there earlier. I'm sure that there could be an extra charge for this early pickup. There are about 20 hotels out there. You can see a list of them on www.tripadvisor.com. Just put in Fiumicino.

Thanks again for your assistance. I think I will call a few days ahead and arrange an early pick up.

I stayed at the Best Western and took a shuttle to the airport at 6am. I do not know if they would do the shuttle for you at 4am, but I'm sure if not they could definitely arrange for a taxi for you. It was a comfortable place, our room at a balcony and was nice. Wifi/computer access. There was breakfast for us, but I'm not sure if they would have it at 4am (another thing to check with them on, I'm sure they've had people leave at 4 all the time).

I will check out the Best Western and see if there is a ride available to the airport at that time. Thank you for your help