Navona Theater Hotel?--(Rome)

[Bruin Steve]

Last few visits to Rome, we've stayed at the Residenza Farnese...and we had it booked for our now-canceled July 2020 post-cruise...BUT, I'm getting a little edgy as they haven't started allowing reservations for July 2021 yet (We lifted-and-shifted and now have two nights in Rome BETWEEN cruises)...So, I started researching alternate hotels--typically, in the same area-near the Piazza Navona/Campo di Fiore--we like this area...

 

One hotel that came up on various searches with excellent reviews is the Navona Theater Hotel--just a block off the Piazza Navona...So, I've arbitrary made a cancelable reservation (in this era of Covid-19, we'd be foolish to book even a year in advance on a nonrefundable rate)...Double room, breakfast, free mini-bar, two nights for 233 Euros (plus the 16 Euro departure tax, of course).  One strange catch appears to be that, for that rate, the room is in the "Annex"--which is around the corner and down the block).

 

Does anyone have any experience with this hotel and can give us any opinions or information?  Thanks...

 

We would be catching a shuttle in Civitavecchia at the end of our Apex cruise, spending the two nights, then catching another shuttle back to Civitavecchia to meet the Infinity for our second leg...

[CruiserBruce]

Many European hotels don't start taking reservations until after the end of the normal peak summer season. So don't give up on your preferred choice yet.

[cruisemom42]

I would counsel caution about being in the "annex".  In general, I've found these are properties adjacent to the original hotel, acquired later, but much less charming.

 

I'd search reviews on TripAdvisor and other sites, filtering for those that stayed in the annex vs. the main hotel to see what they have to say....

 

Like the poster above says, it's early days (for Italian hotels) to be booking for your trip, so don't give up on your original choice.

[Bruin Steve]

I was a little concerned about the annex thing as well...But I couldn't find too many reviews specifically mentioning it.  Apparently, they shuttle you over with your luggage when you check in...and there are 7 rooms over there.  You need to go back to the main building for breakfasts.  The main building is built out of an OLD theater.  So, I decided to upgrade the reservation to a 20 square meter room in the main building--new cost for two days--277 euros.

 

Good thing about a refundable rate is that I can always cancel if I find a nicer hotel/better deal...though the rate seems pretty decent...and the reviews are great--booking dot com has it at "9.0--Awesome"...hotels dot com has it at "9.0--Superb"...tripadvisor shows 184 reviews, 115 of them excellent, another 44 very good...Google has it at 4.7 stars out of 5 with 77% of the reviews 5 stars and another 15% 4 stars...

 

As to the timing of making the reservation, I've always strategized to make at least one refundable reservation VERY early, then continue to monitor rates at this and other hotels.  Often I've found those early reservations to work out to be great deals.  In today's environment, we really don't know where hotel rates may go down the line.  If a Covid-19 vaccine is finalized (which may have to happen in order for us to do this at all), there may suddenly be a rush on travel plans for next summer...people will have delayed such plans for this summer and be itching to go then...and that sudden surge could send prices to new high levels.  Having something in hand early is, to me, the smart thing to do.

 

In the worst case, the trip needs to be canceled--and we cancel this.  In the best case, it turns out to be a steal...and the hotel lives up to the reviews (We already know the location is excellent)...

[bennybear]

Let us know how it goes.  We have stayed several times at the Residenzia Farnese and love the location and the breakfasts with fresh honey😀.

Have  you had dinner at the nearby Sicilian restaurant?  We enjoy that too.