bdemaria

There's no reason to stay near the train station simply b/c you might be on an early train.

In Italy, by law, you must reserve a room for all the people staying in it and a room to accommodate 4 people will be difficult to find so you might look at the Albergo Cesari b/c they have "family" rooms, it is centrally located near the Via del Corso & the Pantheon.

ksucats

Any opinions of Hotel Borromeo? I found a quadruple room for $199 that includes free breakfast and free internet. I was looking on expedia. Hotel Solis was similar. It looks like there could be several other hotels as well. The only problem is since these aren't chains, I don't know what to look for.

mromalley

Google Maps. For instance, I was recently looking for Rome Hotels and wanted to stay near the Pantheon. Google Maps gives you this

http://https://www.google.com/maps/p...2036ce2c?hl=en

And then you can "walk around" the area looking for hotels. For Hotels I tend to stay in the Pantheon/Trevi Fountain areas. You could also check near Torre Argentina. It is convenient for buses

Perche

If you are only in Rome for four days you don't have time for a day trip. Rome is a big city and things are spread out, so there is no place close to everything. Staying around the Pantheon is is as good as you can as far as being centrally located. I second bdemaria's recommendation of Albergo Cesari, two blocks away from the Pantheon. Great location and great value for the money. Spend the 15 euros to get to the train station in the morning. You don't want to stay anywhere near the main train station in any large italian city.

manneca

Don't be tempted by the Radisson Blu near the train station. The neighborhood is sketchy. The hotel is uncomfortable. There are no doors on the bathrooms (there is one on the toilet area). It took three calls to housekeeping to get them to switch out the large bed to two single one (which I had reserved). The only saving grace is they have a pool, which your children might enjoy. Other than that I wouldn't stay there except to overnight.

ksucats

Ok. I agree that being near the train station isn't good. The Albergo Cesari says it has no rooms available for my dates. March 14-18. My wife is set on taking a day trip to Anzio because that is where her great grandfather lived before he came over. Not sure if we will venture out past there or not, but will sacrifice a day in rome for that. My main goal now is to figure out hotel and then book train to milan. I will plan rest of details in a couple months.

Murphy123

Agreed 100%. My husband attended a conference held at the Radisson Blu a few years ago - and since it was in Italy I went too. The attendees are still talking about that hotel - and not in a good way. If you look at a particular review on Trip Advisor it is dead on - the architect obviously never spent a night there.

Murphy123

We stayed at the 3 star Hotel Raffaello - it is about a 10 minute walk from the Termini. It was fine - and we were upgraded to a suite the last night (our destination was Florence but had to fly into Rome so we spent the first and second nights at the Raffaello just in case of a strike (it has happened to us in the past). The suite had 2 twin beds and a queen bed in the second room.

Cost of course will depend on the f/x. The reviews on Trip Advisor are pretty good - and we would not have gone back for the last night if the hotel had not been satisfactory (we always book best available rate - just in case). We basically look for clean and quiet rooms. The breakfast is excellent - although I am not someone who eats meat, cheese, cake etc. for breakfast. Actually neither do the Italians - or so many tourists who complain about the poor breakfasts at many 3 star hotels - the same people who have maybe coffee and toast at home. I agree you would have to speak with a hotel about a quad. I do know of a quad room in Florence though but that won't help you much.

yhm71

I would suggest booking an apartment the Pantheon / Piazza Navona / Campo dei Fiori area. You could look on airbnb for example. Also with four of you I wouldn't bother with public transit, take cabs instead much faster and not too expensive.

bdemaria

I see a lot of availability. Try looking for a room for 3 people, rather than 4, or two rooms for 2 people each. If these (esp. the triple) are w/in your price range you can contact the hotel directly and explain you are two adults and two children and ask if the rooms can accommodate your party.

You won't be able to book train tickets for March 2015 yet.

Joanna2360

ksucats,

The Pantheon isn't the only area that is near a lot of good sights, and, in any case, Rome is a great walking city. If you would like to be near the Termini station but not in one of those big tourist hotels on streets like Amendola, where pickpockets will be waiting for you to set foot outside, I would suggest the economical but clean and safe Hotel Italia, which is on a side street just off Via Nazionale, a main shopping street, very lively, and one of the paths to many of the sights. The Hotel Italia is a little bit of a walk from the Termini, but it's an easy walk and the hotel is close to things such as the Trevi Fountain.

http://www.hotelitaliaroma.it

It also is a reasonable walk to the the Spanish Steps (go there after the Trevi) and the Coliseum (in the other direction). Actually, the Trevi is being repaired, but there's still a way to take a peek at it. The Pantheon area tends to be more expensive than some of the other areas, and it is not as easy to get from it to the train station, so I would suggest looking at it last rather than first. Ditto for the expensive area of Via Veneto. Another suggestion, if you can get a room that it not on the air shaft, and get a good rate, try the Tiziano Hotel, which is close to the Pantheon, but not officially in the Pantheon neighborhood. The Tiziano has a bus stop right outside the door, and there is an express bus stopping there that will take you straight to the Termini, in only ten minutes or so, for the next leg of your trip.

http://www.tizianohotel.it

Box5

What if an elderly person doesn't like to walk more than 2 blocks? Can this person be taken on a trip to Rome?

One idea is to take it slow, only see 1 thing in the am (2 if they are close) and maybe 1 thing in the afternoon. Another thing is to plan the route carefully so that you can take a bus to one place or another.

A secondary question is what's the best area to stay? This person doesn't like to spend a lot on the best hotels. Instead, they prefer a neighborhood with some shops, maybe a grocery store and buses. Comparable places might be...
London: Islington or Bayswater, not the Dorchester Hotel
New York: upper West Side
San Francisco: Marina, Chinatown, not downtown
Vancouver: Kitsilano or Kerrisdale

manneca

Can the person use a wheelchair? My son wheeled his grandmother around Florence. Rome, of course is a lot hillier.

Most of the places I can think of that I'd like to see in Rome require a lot of standing and walking--museums, ruins. Of course, in churches, you can often sit in a pew.

Box5

This person would probably refuse to use a wheelchair. Maybe the person can walk 4 blocks? Maybe a few things can be seen for a few seconds while riding a bus?

manneca

What are you/this person planning to see? I think that will make a big difference. For example, my favorite place in Rome is the Villa Borghese. You can taxi there, but to see it well requires about an hour of standing. I can't remember whether there are places to sit and rest or not. If the person can't walk two blocks, I can't see how s/he can stand. I didn't have tickets for the Sistine Chapel when I went so I stood in line for over an hour. I think there are tours you can arrange that have immediate access, but still, it's standing and looking at art. You can see the forum and the coliseum but IMO you can see the same thing in a travel video.

If you can figure out what your top 10 sights are and then come back you will get much more helpful info.