Going to Italy in January 2010...Please reccomend hotels

Hello I am going to Rome, Italy in January. Can you guys reccomend some cool places to see (vatican i know of so far) and what hotels you've been to?

Thanks much

Re: Going to Italy in January 2010...Please reccomend hotels

Personally, I would not recommend the area by the Vatican for your first time visit as I think it is too far from the historical center. For your first time I think staying in the area of either the Spanish Steps or the Piazza Navona would be better since they are easily walkable to most of the sites. I've stayed in both areas.

Check out the Hotel Madrid which is located walking distance to the Spanish Steps and around the corner from the Via Condotti (shopping! ). Then there's the Residenza Canali a family run B&B (we loved staying here, they treated us like part of their family) which is steps from the Piazza Navona. They have a web site.

We will also be in Rome in January but this time we are renting an apartment in Trastevere which is on the other side of the river in a residential neighborhood.

Re: Going to Italy in January 2010...Please reccomend hotels

Sorry, I misread your post. Of course you must see the Vatican, the basilica (look into the Scavi tour), Sistine Chapel is amazing. The good part about going in January? NO LINES!! The Forum, Palentine Hill, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Castel Sant Angelo, walking over the Bridges of Angels. For an easy day trip I recommend taking the local train (sorry I don't remember the # offhand) to Ostia Antica, a ruin of an old port town. I recommend you pick up Time Out Rome which has a plethora of information.

Have fun planning!

Re: Going to Italy in January 2010...Please reccomend hotels

i just got back from Italy! We stayed at the Hotel Marcella in Rome. It was a very nice hotel with breakfast included. If you stay there definitely try to get a room on the 6th floor. We stayed there in the beginning of our trip and at the end. the first room we had, on the 4th floor was much tinier than the 2nd room we had on the 6th! go figure...

definitely book a tour of the vatican, visit the spanish steps, trevi fountain, pantheon, coloseum & palantine hill/roman forum are all part of one ticket. look into something called the roma pass, it might be useful for you since you will be there more than the 2 days we were. eat in piazza navona...that's all i can think of right now. you're going to love it!

Re: Going to Italy in January 2010...Please reccomend hotels

thank you all for your input. I am really excited about going