Advice needed on hotels in Rome...

[Sunshine required]

Hi there,

 

We are booked on Navigator of the Seas 17th July 2011 and at present we are trying to book 1 night stay in Rome before embarkation. Originally we were looking into staying in Civitavecchia but our TA has come up with some good deals for Rome and offered the following hotels:

Royal Santina

Massimo D'Azeglio

Mediterraneo

Cicerone

 

Does anyone have any experience of these hotels or know what area we are best to stay in? We would like to be central.

 

What we are looking for is basically somewhere to relax after travelling and unwind before embarkation. Having been to Rome before and only having 1 night we are not really interested in sight-seeing this time. Upon arrival in Rome we will maybe have a leisurly wander around shops, few glasses of wine a nice meal and an early night.

 

Many thanks! :)

[euro cruiser]

Whenever I see a list like this my first question is whether or not the travel agent recommending them has ever been to Rome.

 

Let me start by saying that Rome is a fairly small, compact city, so most areas are within walking distance of the key sites. Having said that, there are certainly some areas that are more central than others. I always refer to the area bounded by the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Campo dei'Fiori as the dead center of Rome for the tourist.

 

None of these hotels are in that zone. The first three are up near the train station. This is, in my opinion, the least desirable section of Rome unless you are staying there because of an early train connection the next morning.

 

The forth hotel, the Cicerone, is across the river in a primarily residential area. Again, not bad, but certainly not ideal, particularly in your case since you will have very little time in Rome.

 

Unless you plan to simply check into your hotel, nap, go out for dinner, then leave for Civitavecchia the next morning, I think these hotels are less than ideal. If you are traveling from North America, you may arrive in Rome exhausted - it's not unusual for the first day to be a lost day, as jet lag overtakes. If you suffer from jet lag and will be primarily resting, location is probably less important to you.

 

In that case, I think the Cicerone is the best of the alternatives offered.

[Bruin Steve]

I always prefer to be near the Piazza Navona/Pantheon...

 

For our upcoming post-cruise in August, based partly on the recommendation of another poster here, we booked the Hotel Residenza in Farnese:

 

http://www.residenzafarneseroma.it/default_en.asp

 

Four stars, small hotel, right off the Piazza Navona...

Got a fairly good deal there...120 Euros per night including breakfast for a "Double Superior" room for our nights...

 

Since we have only a short 2 night visit post-cruise, I figure we can walk all over from that location...

[samavarcruiser]

In between the hotels you mentioned I would prefer the Cicerone since the other three are in the train station area which I don't like so much. Anyway my favorite in Rome is hotel del Senato by the pantheon.