Originally Posted by
directcj
HI-
I'm trying to book a Europe holiday Paris, Florence, Rome for a family of 4 this coming July/Aug using my points. Already tried the European Holiday Award option unfortunately it seems that they don't have hotels in either Florence or Rome.
IIRC, last year they had Westin Excelsior for both Florence and Rome.
My preference obviously is to book the luxury cat 6 hotels but the absence of Florence and Rome hotel options for the Europe Holiday award makes it difficult for me as I won't have enough points.
Im wondering about the cat 3 hotels in either Florence or Rome.
In Florence, has anyone here have any recommendations? I see that Sheraton Firenze is a Category 3 but it appears to be some distance from the town. Or is it? How does it compare with Westin or Grand Excelsior? I have never been to Florence and don't know with regards to convenience (transport, sightseeing, food)
In Rome, besides the Westin, Eden, and St. Regis there is the Sheraton Roma, Sheraton Golf Parco, and the Four Points. How are these 3 in terms of convenience for 2 adult tourists with 2 pre-teens in tow? I'm worried that these 3 properties are too far from the city center and don't want to spend too much time or money for transportation.
Another question- how long is the train from Florence to Rome? Can I just stay in Rome and do a day trip to Florence via train or should I plan on staying Florence for at least 1 night?
The Sheraton Roma has goten some good reviews on Flyertalk. Do a search for it and you'll see a variety of posts. Of note it's between the airport and the city so there is a shuttle running to both. To the city it's about every hour and free, but the airport is about 5 euros I think. Of note, there doesnt seem to be as many restaurants in the area of the hotel to walk so dinner amy have to be either taken in the hotel restaurant or in the city before you come back - I think that hte last shuttle back is about 1130 PM but could be mistaken.
I have no experience with the Sheraton Firenze propertie but have been to Firenze multiple times and have to tell you- it's worth the visit, and please stay for longer than a day! The Eurostar does make it doable in a day (1.5 hrs) but I love the food there so much more than ROme, and don't think that it should be shortchanged. The strenght of the euro makes life very difficult for us Americans but consider expanding your options outside of SPG (sacrilegous I know).
chris