Priceline Hotel: Rome for 4 nights from Nov. 21-25 3* and above?

[mariposa]

I've used BetterBidding twice to get awesome PRICELINE deals in Coral Gables and in D.C., where I was familiar with the neighborhoods I wanted...but now that I'm searching for Rome, I'm not sure where to start.

I think this is the first time I've posted a question, so I read several of the read before you post posts...here goes.

My trip is to Rome, Florence and Venice from November 21-29. I'd like start by booking the first four nights in Rome. Ideally a 4* in the Travestere neighborhood. I realize I can't pick that particular neighborhood, but can someone tell me if Travestere is in "central" and if so, is there is a star rating I could pick in order to have a good chance of getting a hotel in Travestere? That's a lot to ask, but I thought I'd see if someone here is really familiar with the Rome offerings and zones.

Just going by what I saw when searching 4* central Rome hotel wins here, I'd say that I'd be happy with a max $125 or max $85 for a central 3*. I don't even know if that's reasonable, so any guidance would be appreciated!

Random question unrelated to Rome: What is it when people on the board are trying to identify hotels? Is that a HOTWIRE thing? I'm new to this, and so far I've only used PRICELINE.

Thanks!

[Romelle]

I found the text below on the web - www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/lazio/trastevere.asp:

"Equidistance from the Coliseum and the Vatican, Trastevere is an ideal place to make a home base. If arriving at Fumicino airport, save a bundle by taking the train from inside the airport to Stazione Trastevere (Euro 5 verses Euro 45) and from there catch a cab to your hotel. For those arriving at Termini, the main train station, a Euro 14 cab fare is about right."

Both areas are fairly large, and include lots of other sub-neighborhoods, so no guarantees you would end up in the desired area. Linking from here (Support/Travel Links) Hotels.com has one hotel that looks really close to the area (again, I couldn't tell for sure). www.venere.com will let you locate some specific T hotels on a map. I really couldn't tell from the PL maps whether T was in Central or not.

Yes, that "Please ID" process is about Hotwire. The amenities offered often can allow a pretty sharp guess as to what the hotel actually is. People do it on their own, but if you do post and ask, your dates and a complete list of the amenities (including a second page if one is offered) is needed.

One way to check the "reasonableness" of a PL bid is to take a peek at Hotwire. Hotwire tends to be just a little more expensive than what is possible on PL - maybe 10%. I was REALLY surprised to see a 4* Vatican City hotel for $94 (your dates). Rome tends to be much more expensive. Another way is to look up above at the Calendar of Wins and see what others have done for your time frame. On the other hand, the Venere hotels were higher, with the lowest 4* being 100 Euros (and no 3*s).

Somebody with neighborhood specific knowledge may well respond here.

Romelle

[WillTravel]

Long story short, you are very unlikely to get a 4* hotel in Trastevere on Hotwire. Possibly a small part of the Rome West zone is in Trastevere, but the 4* hotels you get on Hotwire will not be from there, but from a westerly area that is not part of historical Rome and generally not convenient.

You can get a 4* on HOTWIRE, but it probably will not be in the most central area, even if you choose Rome Central. However, I wouldn't choose any other zone other than Rome Central, because the others would be less convenient.

If you want to be very central, your safest bet is probably to identify a 4.5* or 5* hotel on HOTWIRE in the Rome Central zone, or bid on PRICELINE for a 5* in the equivalent zone. (No guarantees with this strategy, but I think it's very likely to succeed. It would be more expensive, though.)

[thereuare]

Based upon the above let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll try to advise accordingly.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[mariposa]

Just wanted to report back on this...I ended up not using Priceline for Rome because (as others indicated here) the prices were comparable to what I could get on my own, and I liked that I would know where I was staying (the Priceline neighborhoods for Rome were so broad). For some reason, I feel more confident about doing the Priceline bidding thing when it's for the States anyway, so it worked out.

Stayed at Hotel Trastevere for 90 euros per night (their low season price) and loved it. Found out about it in the New York Times's 100 hotels under $150.

Happy holidays!