This is getting to be last minute but I would appreciate some help with my upcoming Rome trip and with the new search interface the FT archives aren't divulging the information I need. I will be arriving in Rome on Thu 2/28 and departing on Mon 3/3. As the Monday flight is at 7:30am I plan to spend the last night (Sun to Mon) at the Hilton Garden Inn Rome Airport hotel for either $192 or 30,000 HHonors points (0.6 cents/point, not the best value but I'll be Gold by then and I will never qualify for diamond on stays and gold re-qual will be through AmEx).

In the meantime though, I need a place to stay in Rome proper. Given my current lack of a guidebook (which I just realized) I have no idea where anything is in Rome. So I would appreciate some suggestions on general locations where one should stay for a first, short trip to Rome where I plan to do all the usual tourist things during the day. I don't plan to get a car and may not take any day trips out of Rome as I'll be in the city for just over 3 days. I've seen some things about catacombs tours which sounds like something I'd be interested in trying.

I looked at some Termini hotel reviews but it's not clear from Tripadvisor whether it really is somewhat grim there at night or just the usual Tripadvisor paranoia.

I've looked at a few places on booking.com which is helpful as it lists whether places offer internet access (I'm bringing my laptop and there's a chance I need to do a tad of work that weekend). But right now I'm pretty much picking blindly as I don't know which general area of Rome to focus my search on.

I don't stay near Termini. It isn't as bad as some people make it out to be, but it does (nonetheless) have its fair share of pick pockets, etc.. First trip to Rome - better to avoid it.

You don't mention price - which can be an issue. A couple of medium priced hotels that are centrally located:

Hotel Cesari (near the Pantheon)
Palazzo Cardinal Cesi (near the Vatican)

Try to remain in the Piazza Navona area, and if you veer across the Tiber, stay on East side of the Vatican. Anything West of the Vatican and you're getting pretty far afield.

try Hotel del Corso.
Via del Corso is the main shopping street and becomes a pedestrian street in the evening. It starts in the Piazza del Popollo and is a couple of blocks from Piazza Espana (spanish steps).
I just stayed there for a week and liked it.
paid 120 euros a night for 2. breakfast and all taxes included.
I would not spend the last night closer to the airport.
for 48 euros they will call a car service (on time, clean mercedes-benz, great driver) and it takes 30 minutes to get to the airport in the morning.
I had been to Rome many times but this time I used Frommer's Rome guidebook. He (actually she -his daughter) has some great walks.
I would not stay around Termini. I like to hang out in Termini for the movement and the excitement but not at night. You want to be closer to Piazza espana, Navona, Fontana de Trevi or Campo di Fiori.
Via Veneto used to be the greatest place. it is still nice but tends to be pricey.
The subway is great. only 2 lines but safe, frequent and quick. 1 euro.

Cheap is good. Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'll try to move away from the Termini area as recommended.

There is no reason to avoid the Termini area at all. It very convienent if flying in from FCO due to the express train. I have never encountered an issue with anyone in the area day or night time. Its close to a few major tourist sights and offers good hotel values compared to other areas in Rome. If you want to stay in the most central area for tourist sites stay in a hotel by the Spanish Steps. That will centralize your location, otherwise the bad reputation that the Termini area has is unfounded.

Check out www.kayak.com and select the area of the city that you wish to stay in.Plenty of 3* and 4* hotels starting at about $150.00.

Or you could do convent accommodations for 55 euros.
http://www.santasusanna.org/comingToRome/convents.html

I can also recommend Hotel del Corso, very nice little hotel in a nice neighborhood.

And if you're into calcio, the guy at the reception is a huge Roma fan and might be able to get you tickets. A football match in a packed Olympic Stadium is a real experience to be lived once.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I've sent the Hotel del Corso an email inquiring about rates, availability and internet access. I've got a booking at the Hotel Tritone in the meantime (Via del Tritone 210, Rome, 00187) for 400 Euros inclusive for 4 nights. I can always cancel this one if something better comes up but at least this way I'm not scrambling for any place to stay.

http://www.tritonehotel.com

Hotel Tritone is in an excellent location, perfect for a first time visitor.

And that is why we use the Starwood AMEX card. Staying at the Hotel Eden this summer on Cash&Points - a luxury collection hotel for 8,000 points and $150 per night.

You don't mention if you have any other loyalty programs you're in but they are often the best way to get vacations for very little $$$. We've had amazing vacations around the world the last four years at almost no cost thanks to the Starwood AMEX!

My son and I stayed at Hotel Aphrodite right across the street from Termini. A small but attractive nicely-decorated room. Light woods. Two beds and non-smoking as requested. www.hotels.com and I think it was about $90. Spotlessly clean. The wake-up call came on time. Desk was cheerful and helpful. Gorgeous glass mosaic tile in the bathroom. Comfortable beds. Breakfast included. I thought a pretty fine deal. Since we had that 1:45 am wake-up call, we missed the breakfast but did have get 4 or 5 hours of sleep and a place to be earlier in the evening.

Romelle

you did quite well, trying for some dates in November (not exactly high season) and coming up with cheapest rate of 240Euro PER night.

--

Actually Nov is a very popular time in Rome.

Ok some quick notes. I'm in CDG presently having just left Rome. I booked with Hotel Tritone but got walked to their sister hotel, Hotel White which is up a level (4 star vs. 3 star) and more convenient to Barbarini plus off Via del Tritone which helps with the noise. The cost was the same, 400 Euros which was nice given that the going rate for Hotel White was at least 30-40 Euros higher on Booking.com I believe.

The hotels operate as a chain with their third hotel, Hotel Accademia which is also 3 star and the website is www.travelroma.com. I highly recommend Hotel White especially at the price point I got. They have free slippers, real key cards (no key drop-off) although you still need to insert the card to turn on the electricity. Toiletries are restocked daily and towels are changed daily as well. There's an in-room safe, mini-bar, laundry service and pant press. That's for the basic rooms. I think they also have more lavish rooms of course. The tub is very, very narrow so if you're slightly more wide think carefully before booking however.

Breakfast is included and great. It runs from 7am-10:30am and is well worth getting up for to off-set some of your food costs. The adjoining pizza parlors are decent for places so close to Trevi. The sell-by-weight place is pretty good and there's a supermarket out the door to the right at the corner.

The Cotral bus worked according to plan. I reiterate the other poster's suggestion to find the stop in the day time. The sign is not very apparent even with the prior directions to look in the 10 o'clock direction. Look parallel from The Route 38 island to the left and you should see it. I'll try to post photos of everything later.

Taxi from near Trevi to Termini cost me 10 Euros, the bus itself was 7 Euros and the trip took under 30 minutes. The bus did appear only 5 minutes after the posted time so don't allow yourself a buffer. The bus only stops long enough to pick up passengers.

There's food upstairs in the airport which is open at 4:30am before the AF check-in opens. LH is already up and running as is KLM but the French can't quite seem to get things together in the morning.