Traveling with family of 5

You can use venere.com or hotels.com to find hotels in the cities and areas you wish. You can look by number of people per room, budget and location. Donna

Maybe book a triple for kids and double for parents.

I agree that you should book two rooms. My idea of a vacation does not include sharing a bathroom with 4 other people - especially my children!

I have a family of 6 including four teenagers. When we travel in Europe we always rent apartments. Works great for extra space, extra bathrooms and having a kitchen for breakfast in the morning and snacks for a little downtime in between outings. We will be in Italy in June also and I rented apartments in Venice, Rome and Sorrento. There are tons of great apartment rental agencies available although I have often rented from VRBO or Homeaway with great success. Also the owners/managers are typically quite helpful with travel questions. The only issues is that there is usually a 3 night minimum. We have found apartment rentals more comfortable than hotels for longer than one night. Lisa

Try looking for something on Booking.com. I have had tremedous luck with this website. I have a family of five also and live here in Italy. We recently travelled to Rome and stayed at Hotel Nerva. They had a Family room which accomodated all of us and it also included breakfast. The hotel is right across the street from the Roman Forum and 2 blks from the Colloseum. A great location! Good luck with your search!

Hotel Alimandi in Rome has some family rooms that you could put the three kids in, and get an adjoining or room next door for yourself and hubby. It's across from the Vatican, in the Prati neighborhood, which other than the Vatican is pretty much a residential/Italian neighborhood, is safe and even quiet at night. They are wonderful people, and I would advise calling them on the phone to describe your situation. A phone call to Italy is not expensive, call early in the morning, of course, since you'd be better off talking to an owner/manager rather than a night desk person. Another consideratioin would be an apartment. I rented an apartment in Florence several times. VRBO 68776. Also in more of a residential neighborhood, but there are plenty of restaurants, bakeries, etc around there. It's a two bedroom, 2 bath, with a small alcove that would work well for your daughter. Queen bed in master, two charming old world twins in the second room. The alcove can be closed off with French doors for privacy. The owner is Christina and is a lovely lady who has teenagers herself. Venice I can't help you with. Lucky Kids! What a great trip!

Forgot to mention that there are many, many good pizzerias and casual restaurants near the Alimandi, and you can trust their recommendations. My favorite restaurant in all of Rome is Piacere Molise just two blocks from there.

You don't mention a price point, but I have a good rec for Venice. Casa Verardo has huge rooms, in a hidden, canal=side location. They can arrange connected rooms with a single entrance for a family. Their prices are soft, so you can try to negotiate a "family rate" instead of paying what is posted online. The pics online make it look much grander than it is; totally fine for teens. If you identify hotels you like, always ask about family room arrangements they might have. In my experience, many older hotels have all sorts of combos possible due to the odd configuration of the buildings, but they don't put them on their website. You just have to ask! They might call it a family room, or a duplex or maisonette (2 level room with extra beds in the loft) or a family apartment, etc.

We are renting an apartment in the Dorsoduro. I found it on Homeaway #63751 if you want to take a look. The guy I am working with has been great. I think he might also have other apartments. He can be reached at f.gaggia@viewsonvenice.com. He has been helpful with the apartment and other travel plans. I chose this apartment based on location and it has an outside terrace which I thought might be kind of nice for mornings and evenings.

We did an Italy trip two years ago with three sons (14, 13 and 11). Flew from O'Hare to Venice and took a water taxi to a great B&B on a quaint canal - Locanda Orseolo. Can't say enough how much we loved it. Friendly, English speaking staff with a huge breakfast (and if you are feeding two 19 year old boys then you know those boys can fill up a plate!) We took the train to Rome and stayed at Albergo del Senato, facing the Pantheon. It was wonderful as well. I use this website a lot and am now looking at Florence for this summer. Just booked Hotel Davanzati - took hours and hours of research (Tripadvisor, Steves, Fodors) but I think it looks good! I can give you more specifics if you need them. Send me a message through this webpage. I think I still have all my notes! You will have a ball. Best of luck!

PS - while we have never stayed at apartments, and I really can't say for sure, I have to add that I do an awful lot of cleaning, cooking and straightening up during the year. Hotels and B&Bs for me! You may want to find out if the apartments come with daily housekeeping. We have taken our kids to Europe twice and both times we had to get two rooms. However, in my experience, if you call the hotel directly and tell them you are a family, etc. you might luck into a small discount for booking two rooms. Again - you will have a great time.

I know its all down to personal prefernce but I would consider renting an apartment. This way you will have plenty of space and each person can even have a bit of privacy. You didnt state your budget but you can find affordable apartments in all three cities. I used Nextaway.com and was able to get a nice apartment for myself, mother, brother and husband right next to the spanish steps. it was a fair price and perfectly located. its worth having a look.

Unless you stay just a couple of nights in each city, I would also suggest renting an apartment. Many accept reservations for less than a week (weekly rentals are the norm, usually). If you stay just a night or two, then renting two rooms at a hotel might be the way to go. There are many sites you can use: Homeaway.com (vrbo.com) Homelidays.com Booking.com Venere.com
AirBnB.com NyceRome.com (for Rome) Be careful with the choice of location. Not because of safety, since all of those cities are very safe, but rather because of convenience. I noticed that some facilities are advertised as "within walking distance" from everything, when in fact they are within a "long" walking distance from everything. This is not that important in Venice, since Venice is rather small (unless the facility is in Mestre or Lido), but it's very important in both Florence and especially Rome, which is huge. For Florence make sure you are in the "Centro Storico". Use Piazza Della Repubblica as the center of where you want to be. Using Google maps check if you are within 10 min. walk from Piazza della Repubblica. The closer to Piazza della Repubblica, the more central to everything you are. For Rome also try to stay in the Centro Storico. Use Palazzo Montecitorio (the Parliament) or the Pantheon as your reference points. The closer to those you are, the more central of a location you have (unless you want to be near the Termini train station for ease of transportation).