For some reason I felt urgency to book a room in Rome ASAP once we had settled on the trip to Capitignano (www.capitignano.org ). We are planning to stay at a lovely villa and we needed to find a nice hotel that would be fairly central in Rome and safe as well. Though it was only mid-March, I talked with my neighbor Pat, who has spent a lot of time in Italy through the years, about areas of Rome and her suggestions for hotels. I also Googled "hotels in Rome" and looked at Frommer, Lonely Planet and Rick Steves websites. It was apparent that we needed to narrow down the area of the city that would work for us and the number of 'stars' we wanted in a hotel. With the Euro at 1.4 to the dollar, it looked like we'd need to spend about $200 (or a little more) a night for a reasonable 2 star hotel. We weren't looking for a hotel with a lot of bells and whistles and don't want to spend our time in Italy with a lot of other Americans. Hopefully, we'll have diverse guests at our hotel and we'll be in an area that has small, family restaurants.
At the time, I wasn't sure how we'd get from Fiumicino (Da Vinci) Airport to downtown so I decided to look fairly near Termini Station and within a few blocks of a metro stop. I found Hotel Sonya listed in Rick Steves' book and it also had very good reviews on Tripadvisor and other websites. Additionally, this hotel gives a special Rick Steves' price and a discount for cash (the discount for cash appears to be fairly common at the smaller hotels). Unlike, in the distant past, when I was trying to reserve a hotel room in Europe, this reservation was exceptionally simple via email and I quickly had a confirmation from Mr. Babul. Rick had mentioned (I now think of him as a personal friend I've spent so much time on his website and reading his travel guides!) that the breakfast is especially good and includes "cakes and other goodies" baked daily by Farhad. The hotel has WiFi and will even lend guests a laptop though we're taking our ipads. Plus there is an elevator and the essential crib for Rider. With only 28 rooms, I'm hoping they will take special care of two ladies with a baby! Obviously, we'll be reporting on this "find" in later blogs.
One real concern is how to withdraw the necessary Euros to pay the hotel bill. I checked with my local bank to be sure their Mastercard (debit) will work and I ordered a new debit card from USAA. I'll be in touch with both banks to let them know I'll be traveling in Italy and give them the dates. Certainly, we don't want to have cards refused. I also got a card for Betsy as well that is tied to my account at USAA. Travelers' Cheques are now passe and some businesses don't take American Express so I'm sticking with Mastercard and VISA. I've made copies of the cards and the pins so I'll put that information in a place that will be separate from the cards and I'll leave a copy of the information in an easily accessible place at home. I always have my "waist belt" for special documents like my passport, money and such. While overseas, I try to withdraw enough money for several days to avoid too many withdrawal fees.
The currency calculator, metric convertor, Rick Steves' Audio Europe, Angry Birds (regular and Rio), Solitaire, Skype and various books have been downloaded to either ipad, iphone or both to insure I have entertainment and information (yes, I'm an optimist that the little guy won't take all my time). On top of all that, I have looked through 1000 Places to See Before You Die and I practice my Italian phrases a little every day.
Was I ready? Not quite, after booking the hotel, I still needed to book transportation from the airport to the hotel, a hotel for the last night before we come home and any tours we want to take in Rome. Plus arrangements were required to autopay recurring bills that would arrive while I'm out of town...don't want a lot of late fees. By now there are lists of lists and I'm checking off items daily! What have I learned during this process-travel agents certainly earn their money.
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