Just wanted to write a review of our recent trip to Rome. We used Rick Steves' book, Italy 2014 and found the following two items useful:
Through Eternity Tour - day tour - Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel
** - The tour of the Sistine chapel, and the Vatican museum was a terrific tour. Caterina was a superb guide, very knowledgeable and personable. She swept us through the halls of the museum and basilica with such ease. Her detailed information opened my eyes to the artwork, sculpture and other museum items that hold so much history and glory. Her intense and detailed explanation of the Sistine Chapel and Judgment Day paintings before we entered the Chapel helped me appreciate the hard work, dedication and expertise Michaelangelo put into this awe inspiring room. She is a true treasure and I know the party I was with talked about the tour and Caterina for days. The tour was very intense and covered a large number of sculptures, paintings, objects and rooms. We were very grateful that we chose this particular tour. There was no problem registering on the internet and they provided everything we needed to meet the tour the day of the tour. We would certainly book another tour with them and assure anyone reading this that your experience with this tour group and their guides would be well worth the time and money spent on booking it.
The second item was the Beehive where we stayed for two days. This was again in Rick's book. It was 2 blocks from the train station and easily accessible. What a great place to stay. The place is immaculate and offers lots of quiet and solitude after a long day of touring. The person at the front desk was a wealth of information. She greeted us as if we were old friends and did everything she could to make our stay pleasant. The little cafeteria offered some good breakfast items. The cook made everything to our liking. The shared bathrooms/showers were easily accessible with no long waits. We found the place very charming and enjoyed the several outside areas where we could sit and read or catch up with our journals. An ipad was available for e-mails or searching. The cost per person was considerably less than the $300/night hotels we looked at. I would highly recommend the Beehive. They are also in other cities. Look for them on the internet. They are well worth the cost.