Rome recommendations needed – family of 4

[JD]

Hi all

I am looking for a hotel (or AirBnB, frankly anything…) recommendation for a trip to Rome at the start of April. We are a family of 4, kids are 9 and 11. As usual, it is almost impossible to find a hotel room in Europe that can sleep 4, so I am looking for any recommendations.

I have Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond.

Thanks in advance for any help

JD

[Ash]

Have you tried VRBO?

You can get KLM points through their estore…Emirates and united may do the same.

[chelseafifi]

JD wrote:

Hi all

I am looking for a hotel (or AirBnB, frankly anything…) recommendation for a trip to Rome at the start of April. We are a family of 4, kids are 9 and 11. As usual, it is almost impossible to find a hotel room in Europe that can sleep 4, so I am looking for any recommendations.

I have Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond.

Thanks in advance for any help

JD

We stayed here with our boys similar age https://lapiccolamaison.com/#/(beddy:home)
Excellent location

[Anna]

Have you looked at a suite? The HGI in the embassy district in Rome has suites which sleep 4 people. We stayed there at Easter a few years ago, free breakfast for 3 of us as HH gold and it’s a pleasant 30 minute stroll or faster tram ride into the city.

[Bill]

About 10 years ago I stayed in a holiday Inn express that has since closed. Last time I checked it was still open as a hotel but not hiex. It was a bit out of the city centre – perhaps 25 mins. Sorry to be so vague. If I remember I’ll have a look and see if I can find it again

[Wally1976]

We’re doing very similar in February although my kids are a bit older (14 and 11).

In the end I booked an apartment on points through Marriott Homes and Villas. It’s 3 bedroom and looks very nice but with no reviews on there we’ll see how it turns out!

It’s not the best use of Marriott points in truth but it’s another option. We had a surplus of them.

[WaynedP]

2 April 2023 is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week when Rome and surroundings will be packed with pilgrims who will only start dispersing again in week of 10th April at the earliest.

Many will have started making plans over a year ago, and given Covid I’d expect almost unprecedented pent up demand for spaces in Rome for Easter 2023.

Unless you are particularly intending a family Easter pilgrimage I would reassess.

Otherwise let me know and I could suggest some religious houses/convents/monasteries that provide the basics to pilgrims, but many of these will already be chock-a-block with religious and clergy who (like myself) wouldn’t stay in a secular establishment on any visit to Rome given our ecclesial connections.

[Ash]

@wayne we are hoping to visit in March, basic accommodation at religious houses/convents/monasteries is something we would be keen to do, if possible.

[Shazza12]

A few years ago, we stayed with 3 children at Crowne Plaza St Peter’s in the summer. It was a little bit out but the bus stopped right outside the hotel. We had 2 rooms interconnecting , it was perfect for sightseeing in the morning and then relaxing by the pool in the afternoon.

[Olly]

As long as your kids don’t mind sharing the Marriott has rooms with two doubles, but as the other poster pointed out that’s an expensive time to travel so you might be better with two rooms or doing an Airbnb

[The Savage Squirrel]

No idea what Rome’s Hilton options are like, but if you (or your kids) have had enough of dodgy sofa beds and want a proper bed in a proper room, then the facility to lock in connected rooms at the time of booking on the Hilton site is extremely useful when travelling with family. If it’s a busy time there may be HH points value to be had if you have a stash…

[WaynedP]

Ash wrote:

@wayne we are hoping to visit in March, basic accommodation at religious houses/convents/monasteries is something we would be keen to do, if possible.

There are some decent looking options on sites like
http://www.ospitalitareligiosa.it/en/rome and
http://www.romeing.it/convent-stays-in-rome
which I can’t vouch for personally.

I can personally vouch for the following, although I haven’t been to Rome post-pandemic so some of the items that I list below may be different or unavailable (temporarily or possibly permanently).

1) Casa Santa Maria alle Fornaci (www.santamariafornaci.com) run by the Trinitarian Fathers. This is a favourite of mine, basic accommodation and decent continental breakfast with nice coffee (although the only available egg option is hard boiled). No other meals are provided on site, but it’s just a 15 minute walk to the Vatican with loads of lovely restaurants enroute for lunch and dinners. Daily Mass in the impressive Church next door, and you can request to join the Religious Fathers for Lauds, or Vespers or both, but it will be in Italian. Otherwise, you may be lucky to find a group of English-speaking pilgrims keen for (or obligated like me) communal Lauds, Vespers and even Compline in one of the historic spaces on site – just ask at the reception.

2) Fraterna Domus (www.fraternadomus.it) run by the Sorella Missionaria Fraterna Domus, a secular Third Order. The Sisters operate two venues in Rome, one in central Rome about 250 meters upstream from the Castel Sant’Angelo but on the south bank of the Tiber. I have not stayed there, but have no reason to believe it wouldn’t be as good as the second venue, which I have stayed at. That second venue is situated 20km outside Rome, so requires a taxi or Uber to get anywhere, including the local railway station of Sacrofano which is on the Roma-Viterbo urban train line that runs North-South from Flaminio Railway Station. It is a large, purpose built accommodation and conference centre set in lovely grounds and providing three basic but perfectly adequate hotel-style meal sittings a day. Comfortable apartment-like rooms can accommodate a variety of group sizes, and if you are far from the centre or less mobile, the lovely Sisters will ferry you back and forth in electric golf-type buggies. There’s a large, post-conciliar Church on site with a host of daily liturgies, sometimes in English, Spanish, German or French as well as Italian to cater for the multi-lingual pilgrims who stay on site. Again, I would ask at Reception if there’s any opportunity for communal Lauds or Vespers with any resident group as I find it deeply satisfying to join in with these particular Divine Offices in commune as opposed to the usual private prayer. There’s also a Marian Shrine on site.

Staff at both of the above establishments should be able to help you procure tickets to ticketed events like Wednesday Papal Mass or other Papal Masses in St Peter’s – but these tickets can also be obtained from official offices within the Vatican itself or just politely approach one of the Swiss Guards who will direct you (or occasionally even let you have a couple of tickets from their own limited stock). There is no charge so don’t be hoodwinked into handing over any money for tickets to Masses.

If you don’t come right with any of the above, let me know and I can give you my official diocesan email address for us to take the discussion further offline, otherwise wishing you a truly fabulous visit to the Eternal City.

[Ash]

@waynedp thank you for the advice and links