Factotum

Those prices are ridiculous for a shared shuttle. You could take a taxi to and from your hotel for about the same amount. If you're looking for the economic benefits of a shared-ride service, try the hotel shuttle run by the hotel reservation desk at FCO airport. (It was 18,500 lire per person - about EUR 9 - last time I was there.)

As for the 0630 pick-up time for the 0905 flight... That doesn't sound too early to me. If anything, that's cutting it a little close. Even under the best of conditions it takes the better part of an hour to get from central Rome to the airport, and if the shuttle has to make other stops, this can add considerably to the trip time.

USAFAN

Look for taxi rates ... here:

http://www.assotaxi.it/uk/index_uk.html

sk3

If you don't use Factotum's suggestion, I would suggest using the Cavalieri's car service over limoservicerome. The big difference is that with the Cavalieri the charge goes on your folio and you earn HH points. I used it in Oct '02 and the charge was €55. Met at the gate by a driver with sign, and the car was a nice new MBz. The hotel did charge more for nightime/early morning service but I don't know if they charge more for Sunday's. I think it's worth an email to the hotel to find out their rate.

I'm intrigued by the Hotel Shuttle that Factotum mentions - it just sounds too good to be true (meaning, I'm afraid I won't find it or they won't take me to the Excelsior - but the price is amazing!). So I've also been emailing limoservicerome. (FYI the Excelsior also offered a mercedes pick up at €90!)

mitchell

Free shuttle at the Rome Airport Hilton
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum57/HTML/006812.html

sk3

I just saw mention of "Airport Shuttle" in the SPG forum on a Rome 4-Points thread and this company was also mentioned above (poster asking if anyone's heard of it).

Here's a link:

http://www.airportshuttle.it/

If anyone uses this (or has in the past) it would be great if you could give us a report.

lalala

I was considering taking a taxi (we usually do), but this time we're just going to take the FCO train to Trastevere and take a tram to our apartment, after all, we won't be lugging olive oil to Rome, just back.

la
la

prspad

Here are a few thoughts that might benefit you... In my experience, the better hotels often transport special guests to FCO and are available to pick up arriving guests at times. Sometimes a phone call from the airport to the hotel to ask if they "have a car in the vicinity of the airport" (Lei ha un'automobile in prossimitŕ dell'aeroporto?)and can give you a lift will produce results. Also, some other hotels have a small van or limo that they send to the airport a few times a day to pick up or drop off guests, but don't make an issue of. Lastly, some other hotels may have transportation to/from FCO on a limited, but scheduled basis which they don't often deviate from... For example, the Crowne Plaza on Via Aurelia Antica has a van that makes 4-5 round trips a day on a strict schedule. They often have this information available on their websites.

lalala

This time we used the train station to Trastevere for 5 Euros and then took a tram to Largo Argentina for a grand total of 12 euros for two.

On the way back we used the Con.Cora car service for 31 euros from our apartment (centro storico) to FCO. It was splendid as the drivers were communicating with eachother to check on travel (bad accident on the autostrada to FCO. We went an a different route that gave us a lovely view of ostia antica and a nice view of FCO the actual town. Still managed to get from the centro to FCO in 35 minutes.

lala

sk3

Thanks for the info Lalala. Hope you had a great time (I'm sure you did!)

Do you happen to have contact info on Con.Cora - email, website, phone? I've been using the LimoServiceRome and they're €42.

Also, kinda off topic...but as you've just returned and I'm about to go next week could you please share about the security setup at FCO? Specifically, I have a 07:00 flight on Swiss to ZRH (then connecting to L.A.), I'm not checking bags and I have Platinum status on AA (taking Swiss AA codeshare) but no status with Swiss - so what time do you think I should arrive at FCO?

Thanks in advance for any help.

sk3

After my recent January trip I want to un-endorse limoservicerome.com and report on a new car service that I'm very pleased with.

Regarding limoservicerome - this was my third time using them and up til now it was great. This time however, I was met by a driver who did not have a professional demeanor or appearance and when I stated how glad I was to see him (my flts were delayed and it had been 31 hours at that point since I left L.A.) - he answered with an apology that he didn't speak much english. The car wasn't the nice, clean late model luxury car as before, it was like someone's personal, musty, innocuous dirty blue sedan with a funky smell inside. Top it off that we hit really bad traffic which I later found out when chatting with the concierge that the route this driver took was really the wrong one out of the choices available.

So being that the primary reason I choose to use a car service is A) I can be assured of an English speaking driver, B) I can arrive at my hotel in somewhat style - as I always vie for upgrades I feel appearance does play factor, and C) reasonable cost relative to a cab - limoservicerome no longer will get my business.

I ended up calling a service that I saw advertised when I was there, and it was €35 as opposed to €42. I was very impressed with this service - unfortunately I left the card at home, so I'll add to this tomorrow.

[This message has been edited by sk3 (edited Feb 09, 2004).]

flying fool

We were just planning our trip last night, so this thread is great. I look forward to the new recommended limo.

I noted several folks stayed in an apartment, which is what the four of us would like. Would you recommend where you stayed? Any sage advice?!?

sk3

I'm sorry for the delay in posting about that car service I mentioned above.

It's called M.L.M. Limousine Service

Phone number 39-328-3172346

Rome - Airport €35

There is a €10 supplement for early morning, late nite pick up. (limoservicerome charged a 20% increase for early morning on top of their €42 fee)

English, French, Arabic and Spanish spoken.

The ad also says that they organize tours in Rome and also Florence, Venice, Pisa, Naples, Amalfi Coast and Capri.

My experience:

After being very unimpressed with limoservicerome's pick up at the airport (detailed above) a billboard caught my eye on the Via Veneto advertising M.L.M. Limousine Service for €35 (there's also a billboard on Via Ludovisi between the Excelsior and Hotel Eden). I called the number and fisrt asked his recommendation of pickup time to make a 7AM flight. He said 04:30 would be advisable. I asked if there was a number to call if the car wasn't at the hotel at that time, and he said with an earnestness and pride that was as impressive as it was convincing, that they never miss a pick up.

The car was there, before 04:30. A pristine grey Mercedes minivan. It turns out that the driver was the owner of the company and the man I spoke with the previous day - Elie Yammine. We had a nice chat on the way. (BTW, no traffic at that hour, arrived at FCO at 05:15). He said that he'll soon have a website up (I'll post it when I find it out), he's about to add another Mercedes to the fleet and he'll also be taking out another billboard by the Trevi Fountain.

The fare came to €45 (35 + 10 for early morning) which was the exact same amount that it cost me to take a cab at the same hour from the Cavalieri in Oct '02 (and the Cavalieri is further away from FCO than where I was picked up this time - the Excelsior).

I will definitely use them again when I return in May and I might look into their tours as well. It was a very professional service at a terrific price.

Edited to add that Elie recommended I call him a couple of days before my trip in May to schedule a pick up. (limoservicerome was cool that you could schedule it online - but the downside there was that you had to provide a credit card to hold the res even tho they wouldn't accept CC payments).

So it is a minor drawback that M.L.M. has to be arranged on the phone (but...no need to wait 72 hours for an email reply either a la limoservicerome).

And in case there are those that don't know about a fabulous phone company that FT has turned me onto - check out onesuite.com . You can call Italy for 3˘ a minute, no fees.

[This message has been edited by sk3 (edited Feb 09, 2004).]

cecelia

Thanks for the limo recommendation. I, too, have used onesuite.com for several years now. Absolutely love onesuite and saved lots of money.

Regarding the request for apartments, we had good luck with vrbo.com The little apt we rented would only sleep 2-3 comfortably, though. I wrote it up in a trip report on FT. The experience of dealing directly with the Italian owner and his family was enjoyable. They were helpful and honest.

BeautifulFeet

If you are going to be in Rome for a week get an apartment. There are many companies that rent apartments. One good site for hotels and apartments is www.venere.com.

I just rented some hotel rooms for March and they had the lowest rates.

uk1

There are two absolute musts for Rome - however old you are (ish).

1. Go to Ostia Antica. Sunday is good - everything else is shut. Just do a search and you'll see why. Pompeii without the crowds and with more to see. A tipe is arrive early and wlak as far as you can and sightsee against the crowd.

2. Go to Alpheus for music. 5 different stages in the commercial district. Don't arrive before 11:00. They'll probably be, Salsa, AND blues AND Jazz etc. Wonderful.