Customer Reviews

Hello Italy! The Best Budget Hotels in Italy

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My travel group feels very fortunate to have hooked up withthis book. It is a collection of references to accommodations withreal charm and character. The thing that struck me in reviewing the book was that the recommendations were based as much on the hotel rooms as the hoteliers. And sure enough, we feel like we made friends with the proprietors of each hotel we used. This book is great for both the budget traveller and for people who can afford to spend more; but who are interested in an eclectic european experience.

I loved using the 1st edition of Hello Italy but this newest edition is wonderful. It contains detailed descriptions for over 400 charming and affordable hotels in more than 20 of the most popular cities in Italy. The book also contains tips on how to make hotel reservations, how to get to the hotels, useful websites, list of packing unusual items, which hotels have handicapped access rooms, foreign phrases, how to get hotel discounts, what to do before leaving the United States, contact information for individual tourist offices, list of laundromats in the major cities, etc. Wow! I've been looking for a book like this for years and I've travelled to Italy more than 10 times.

Affordable lodging seems to be an oxymoron for travel in Italy. Even with the abundance of information on the Internet and proliferation of guide books, it is almost impossible to find. For clean, safe, accessible lodging options that fall between the Ritz and a hostel, ie. in the price range of better motel US chains, this is the one and only book. And because each location is individually owned, there are added bonuses: charm and pride of ownership. With selection, pricing, directions, and a description of each room, a successful choice is almost assured. Now if I could only find a way to subsidize an opportunity to use this book....

Excellent for those whose want to save money on hotels and not worry about sacrificing quality. My husband and I married in Italy and stayed for a total of 5 weeks. We traveled as far North as Milan and as far South as Sicily. The only hotel reservation we had before we left to go to Italy, was for our wedding (3 nights). The remainder of the time, we used Margo's book and hotel signs throughout Italy. Her book was perfect for what we needed!! I recommend this book to anyone that asks, "So, where should I stay in Italy? Isn't it expensive for hotels?" It doesn't have to be. Margo writes her reviews of the hotels/rooms in a way that a friend would describe it to you - straight forward.

Thanks for helping make our visit to Italy enjoyable and affordable!

I am the author of Eating & Drinking in Italy and Eating & Drinking in Spanish (the What Kind of Food Am I? series). I own, and have used, all of Margo Classe's guides, including Hello Italy! These guides are thorough and the author adds a personal touch when she describes in detail each hotel she has visited. Hello Italy! is a must for the independent, budget traveler.

Yes, Toto, this may not be Kansas, but you still can find a good room for under $100 ... with bath. In fact you'll find nearly 70 listings for Rome, personally checked out by the author. And if you're visiting elsewhere in Italy there are extensive listings for 25 other cities and areas. You won't find details on sights here so you'll need another, regular, guidebook like Cadogan. But you can dependably use this as the book to find recommendable, decent, clean, budget accommodations. Save your money for more of the luscious Italian food. And while not a regular guidebook, Margo has included worthwhile travel tips, many you'll rarely find elsewhere, lessons learned from her extensive travels.

If you are going to Rome, Florence, Siena, Milan or a number of other cities in Italy and want good accomodations with private bath but don't want to spend too much then you are in luck because Margo Classe has done the work for you. I would not hesitate to go by her recommendations. I am familiar with several of the places she has visited in Rome and can say she is right on with her observations.
Also, there are good restaurant recommendations as well as useful info such as bookstore and internet cafe locations.
As a mature budget traveler I consider Hello Italy! to be an essential item for trip planning.

The book has ease-of-use. Look up hotels easily - and read all the important info necessary to book rooms. The authoress has done a thorough personal hunt for "decent and beyond" accomodations. And I was fortunate enough to communicate with her by email. Her response was rapid and so helpful.

I was browsing the internet looking for hotels in Italy when I discovered "An Insider's Guide to Italian Hotels." I loved the author's criteria for for selecting a hotel: room with bath, charming, centrally located, family owned and "$50 to $99 a night for two." My husband and I just returned from 18 days in Italy where we stayed in three hotels reecommended by Ms. Classe. To be accurate, we stayed in specific rooms in those hotels based upon her recommendations of particularly nice rooms. The rooms, the costs and friendly staff were just as she had described. Unique to her book are directions to each hotel from public transportation. In each case we followed her directions from the train station -- by vaporetto in Venice, by foot in Florence, by bus in Rome. What a treat! No more worries about where the cab driver is taking you! Our next trip? France with Margo Classe's "An Insider's Guide to French Hotels!" We're sold!

I ordered this book along with several other books on Italian hotels and tourism. Of those ordered, I found this to be the least informative. The book lists hotels, but doesn't provide detail information. I was looking more for descriptions of the furnishings and personal recommendations