Traveled: August 2015

I searched multiple options for our accommodations in Italy. From vacation rentals to hostels and hotels. I am used to planning for 1 or 2 people, in which case hostels are often the best option. However for this trip my parents came with my husband and I. Therefore other accommodation options were a bit better. The following is what I ended up finding.

Rome Apartment

I used AirBNB for our accommodation in Rome. As we were using this as a “base” for the trip, an apartment better suited our needs. Having the full kitchen and space to spread out and do laundry was very nice. However I wouldn’t suggest this if you are ok with backpacking the trip.
Our host was very nice and very responsive to all of my emails prior to the trip. Unfortunately we had a bit of a hard time nailing down the time to meet up to get the keys and when we did arrive, he did not have the place ready. This is another reason to only deal with this if you will be staying at the place for a longer time.
We stayed just south of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano. This location is pretty south for most of the sites. However it was close to a Metro line so that wasn’t really a problem. It was definitely NOT a tourist area, if that makes you uncomfortable, find a place closer to the Colosseum. In general, if you are close to a metro line, you shouldn’t have a problem.

Cinque Terre Camping

Our last minute planning created high prices. Luckily I found this great “campsite” called Camping La Sfinge on Hostels.com. They offer rustic cabins for a decent price are located in La Spezia, which is just north of Cinque Terre. I highly suggest it!
The only small hurdle we had was in how to get to the actual place from the train station. There is a shuttle bus (turned out to be a city bus) but no timetable was posted so there was an awkward wait once we arrived. We also wanted to head out very early the next morning, before the “shuttle” started. We ended up walking. It was downhill this way so not a problem.

Modena Hotel

Unfortunately, I do not remember what website I went through to find the hotel. I know I booked directly with them. We stayed at the Hotel San Geminiano. It was a basic hotel, but comfortable. The only complaint is that the front desk asked to hold on to our passports when we checked in. My mom stayed with them until they were done processing whatever they needed them for and everything worked out fine.