Never have I seen SO MANY accomodations! Also, never have I experienced such a hassle and hustle trying to find a place to stay. Without reservations waiting, you''re at the mercy of seek and find after a long flight over. Budget travelers are especially victimized into paying a higher price in effort than would normally be expected.
In my vacation planning, I did contact the Italian Board of Tourism and received 6 free sheets with double columns listing places to stay that were 1-star rated hotels and pension/boarding houses - well more than 100 listings. (They''ve the same lists for 2-5-star hotels.) Lonely Planet''s Rome also had numerous budget listings leaving me to fantasize about walking into Rome and conveniently finding accomodations with so many rooms available. HAH!
I spent the first 2-half hours schlepin'' bags around the Termini area which has the highest density of accomodations. There wasn''t a room to be had; ALL places charged higher per night than any information I had in which they were listed. Eventually found a room...without bath...in a former bathroom with bed crammed into where the tub had been sitting for $30 a night. I wasn''t that desperate yet.
Checked out the Termini Station booth which gives assistance getting a room only to find both places guaranteed already full. By now, rates weren''t even a consideration though even higher-priced places also had no vacancies. To say I checked at least 35 establishments is no exaggeration. When finding a room in the private quarters reviewed in this journal, it was a blessing even better than I realized. I later checked several places on the western side of Termini which were either full or had vacancies for legitimate reasons. Let''s just say the west side had more of a "flophouse" feel that many immigrants were calling "home."
How to avoid these same confusions, hassles, nightmares? My only guarantee would be making reservations...which means likely a place out of the typical budget traveler''s means since pensions, 1-star and often 2-star hotels don''t accept reservations. $25 a night was $10 more than I''ve ever paid for anywhere in southern Europe. As for the off-season, I''m now convinced there is none in Rome...like New York, and while prices might have been somewhat cheaper, there obviously were few to no vacancies when I visited. I''m not sure how budget travelers should financially prepare for a visit and "chance" finding since even listed rates were obviously higher once at the hotel. Save up AND expect to spend extra. Still, it''s just one of those things you''ve got to do; kind of like the whole reason you come to a place like Rome to begin with.