Would you switch hotels to save money?

I'd probably just suck it up and pay the higher price. I like comfortable beds!

But if you do move you can just drop your luggage at next hotel in the am- they will hold it for you til check in time- or leave it at the hotel you are checking out of- they will also hold. So you can pack up, check out early, leave your bags til time to check in new hotel. Either way works.

I think you should do what you want to do. I'm a bit of a scrooge when it comes to hotels and my idea of a splurge is paying $150 total for a room, even though I can afford more. But I know there are others who routinely book pricier hotels because to them, that is part of the vacation experience. For me it's just a place to stay and as long as its clean and conveniently located, I'm happy. I would figure out which camp you're in and choose accordingly. :) 😊

If it’s where you want to stay, do it. You won’t regret spending the extra money for the one night. But you may regret losing the extra time plus the hassle of changing hotels for one night. In the scheme of things, the cost is negligible compared to the whole trip cost.

You can call the hotel to ask if they will honor a cheaper rate for that fifth night. The worst they can say is “no”.

If it’s a push on your budget, you’ll find a few places to cut back during your trip. Like house wine instead of a more expensive bottle for a couple meals.

I would not switch hotels. Remember, prices have gone up on everything this past year. Life is short and a few hundred dollars is not much when you look at the amount you are paying for airfare, tour cost, and food. Enjoy your trip.

It sounds like your RS tour does not start in Rome? If you have a long travel day to your tour start city, I would keep your comfy hotel for the 5th night. Honestly, having "made yourself at home" at your comfy hotel for 4 days, I don't think it's worth the trouble to switch. You're "only" paying $120 more per night on average, than you would have last year, and given inflation/tourist crowds this year, that's "reasonable"? If the heat/tourist crowds/etc drain you more than expected, you'll be glad you treated yourselves! And you'll be better rested to begin your RS tour! Enjoy!

Under those conditions I would move for the last night because

1. It sounds like only minimal time is lost since the two hotels are close to each other.
2. If it’s in a city I would return to I consider it research for a possible future stay. If I don’t like it for some reason it’s only one night.

But that’s assuming moving doesn’t get in the way of anything I had planned for that day.

I would splurge. I think each trip deserves one segment of a few nights that offer a little pampering. Such a stay makes up for hotels you may find less than thrilling. And moving for one night is the hassle you describe, so no, I would not do that.

Some of the reviews mention uncomfortable beds,

Too soft, too hard, lumpy???

A 'comfortable' bed is a different thing to different people

Call me a scrooge or a cheapskate but for $600+ I would move and spend all nights in the less expensive hotel. I'd read reviews carefully and if the only mention of uncomfortable beds was that of my friends I would not worry about it. I'm thinking of all the other splurges I might do on the trip for that $600.

A 'comfortable' bed is a different thing to different people

Totally agree. I did some checking of the reviews of the Hotel Smeraldo and most are very very good and mention the comfortable beds. A minority of the less than good reviews mentioned 'hard' beds, which may be uncomfortable for some. If you tend to sleep on a giant marshmallow at home, you might find hard mattresses uncomfortable. I personally need a hard mattress to get a decent sleep so it would not put me off at all, especially with the majority calling them comfortable.

We wouldn’t if it was part way through the stay in that location. Not sure if this is the start of your trip in addition to being the days before your tour, but we often splurge on our hotel at the start of our trip as it is our ‘jet lag recovery’ location and we want the extra comfort to get us over that initial hump.

All things being equal, I’d save the money if they were both in the same area I wanted to stay in. We stayed at Hotel Smeraldo back in 2012. Believe it’s been renovated and expanded since then, so my opinion isn’t relevant. We did enjoy its location. There was a pizza by the slice shop across the street and a couple good restaurants in Campo de Fiori, as well as a Blue Ice gelato shop. No idea what’s there now. Piazza Navona is only a couple minutes walk from the hotel.

Thanks everyone, these are all helpful things to think about. Rome will be the first city on our trip, and when we leave Rome we’ll be traveling by train to get to the start of our tour. The points about getting a good night’s sleep after arriving/jet lag and the night before we head out make sense. And not having to pack and unpack one more time. And being pampered just a little, especially when we know that the hotels on the tour will be just fine, but not exceptional or deluxe. Considering the ratings and reviews (cross checked on multiple sites) the cost of the splurge hotel is reasonable, as much as anything can be considered reasonable these days! Other hotels with similar ratings are running much higher. (Nancy, it’s $50/night not $100/ night more than the Smeraldo for 4 nights, so $350 not $600 total— and $150 of that is for the last night. It’s $100/ night more than when we planned to stay there originally in 2022, but everywhere we look is much much more expensive than it was in 2022). So I’m leaning more toward treating myself….we were last in Europe in 2018 and expected to return in 2020 😢 and then in 2022. After 6 years away, we should make the most of our time and maybe not worry about one expensive night’s stay.

I would have no problem moving, and I have done that in the past. For me, it's like a side-by-side fun experiment to see what I really value and whether the price differential is worthwhile (when I first went to Rome I stayed in a very pricy place - especially for a young person at the time - that I wouldn't stay at again because my values have changed). Plus, I genuinely like trying out and comparing different hotels in a city.

I wouldn’t switch hotels for just one night. Time is money, and even though you would be saving currency, it would take away from your time exploring Rome. It sounds like you do want to stay in the pricier hotel. If it’s not going to be a hardship, go for it. Enjoy your trip!

IMHO— We stayed at Hotel Smeraldo a year or so ago and found it to be both comfortable and convenient. The rooftop bar is lovely and breakfast is good. Is it a 5-star hotel? No, but it’s good value for the money.

I think it's reasonable to stay in the “splurge” hotel for the last night. You will be moving around on your RS trip, and as you said you haven't been to Europe in a while, and this is making up for a long-hoped-for trip.

(And for the record, I do like the Smeraldo and stay there when I am in Rome. So I certainly have nothing against it! I have happily stayed in both refurbished and non-refurbished rooms, but the hassle in this case vs comfort makes comfort win out !)

I have stayed at the Hotel Smeraldo and did not find it uncomfortable in the least. The location was fabulous and my bed very comfortable. You asked what I would do? I would switch the entire reservation and use that money more effectively elsewhere.

We each have our own priorities and I am sure you will be happy with the choice that works for you.

We stayed in Hotel Smeraldo in 2019 for 2 nights; excellent location and the beds were absolutely fine. I would change the entire hotel stay....wine and aperitifs on the rooftop were wonderful and gave an authentic Italian feel. The money saved allowed us to have a private guide for an entire day in Rome which was fantastic and definitely worth the money.

Update and decision: from the “splurge” hotel’s website we were able to join their loyalty club, which brought our rate down. We are paying $35/night more for the splurge hotel than for the Hotel Smeraldo for 4 nights and $100 more for the 5th night. Everyone had good points and I think we probably would have been happy at the Hotel Smeraldo too, but who knows if/when we’ll get back to Rome after this trip (honestly after 2 cancelled trips I’ll be thrilled just to get there in 2024, fingers crossed) so we decided to treat ourselves just a little. All of these comments were great and based on your advice we could have gone either way. Thanks again!

Oh, that is an awesome outcome. I've joined hotel's FB pages but mostly only get a free breakfast out of that, lol. The Loyalty Club is not something I've ever looked for so that is an excellent notion!

I'm glad you are not moving and that the cost is a little bit better!

Stayed in Hotel Smeraldo April 2022. No complains about beds or service. Staff very helpful and friendly, great location. Excellent restaurant right around corner, great deli like place accross the street. Suited us just fine for four nites.

Ruth, I am so happy to read that you did the splurge! Compared to the total cost of your trip, it doesn’t actually cost all that much more. I am huge fan of joining hotel’s loyalty clubs. One time after joining, we were offered the opportunity to stay on the Concierge floor at a lower price than the regular room. It was a fabulous, fairy tale stay!