Europe 23 May to 1 July 2008: Italy, France, Spain, England: zAccommodation

2. Rome - Piramide/Via Ostiense district

Above: The Pyramid of Cestius (Piramide di Caio Cestio) which gives the Piramide district its name. It was built c. 18-12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius Epulo, a Roman magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations of Rome. More at Wikipedia.

Above: Piramide metro station, on Line B of the metro system, and the most convenient way to move about the city. The Colosseum is two stations, Termini four.

Above: The street outside our apartment, Via Ostiense. It's one of Rome's ancient roads (heading towards Ostia Antica), and very busy. The apartment was double glazed and air conditioned, which meant street noise rarely bothered us. Lots of local shops along v Ostiense, including fruit & veg, gelato and bars. We shopped at local supermarkets in the vicinity.

Above: Ben sampling the Italian equivalent of Twisties.

Above: The living / dining room of the apartment - also sofa bed sleeping accommodation.

Above and Below: The extremely well-equipped kitchen.

Above: The main bedroom

Above: The bathroom, which also contained a very welcome washer/dryer.

Above and below: A couple of times we settled in to the cafe at Ostiense railway station for pizzas and coke! This included the morning of our arrival. Our flight arrived about 7am, and we were at the apartment about 9.30am....before the owner had a chance to clean and ready it from the previous guests. We dropped our bags and explored a little of the area. Amazing how you can keep going after a 24 hours with little sleep, with the excitment of "arrival adrenaline"

From 23 to 28 May we based ourselves in the Piramide district, at Via Ostiense 36. We booked an apartment through The B & B Association of Rome, which we found through Slow Travel Italy. It couldn't have been better. Everything went perfectly from the moment of first contact with the organisation and booking, through to the wonderful host contacting us afterwards to say we had left a couple of items, which we arranged to collect. The apartment owners have thought of EVERYTHING you could possibly need. It is one of the best equipped apartments we've ever stayed in.

We loved the feeling of staying in an authentically residential area of "un-tourist" Rome, yet so close to the hubub of more crowded, touristy sites. The gelato shop 3 paces from the apartment is sublime!

This was in sharp contrast to the UNREAL experience we had at the Hilton Cavalieri Hotel in Rome afew days later....

15. Rome - Cavalieri Hilton

The Conference I attended was held at the Hilton Cavalieri Hotel.

We really didn’t enjoy our stay in this over-priced, over-blown hotel. Everything looks “luxurious” on the surface, )if not a bit like an explosion at the Versace factory)and there is that level of obsequious service (every member of staff greets you EVERY time you walk down a corridor, even if only 5 seconds earlier!). There are pool attendants in crisp white uniforms, and many of the guests have deep tans and lots of gold bling. Surface sophistication is a good summary of this place.

There is “free” use of the hotel pool for guests (and it is a good pool, big enough for real exercise), BUT just try to sit anywhere, or even put your book and towel down, and you’ll be pounced upon and told you must pay a 16 Euro sun lounge fee. You would think at a room rate of >300 Euros a night, use of the pool and a place to put your towel might be a given!

Although swimming laps during opening hours, I was tapped on the hand and told I was swimming "contrary to regulations". I never found out which regulation, but assume it may have been because it was cloudy? Or perhaps because I put my towel down on a chair undercover? I said that if a manager cared to come and explain the regulation to me perhaps we would have something to discuss, but no-one appeared, of course. Perhaps that explains why there is rarely anyone IN the pool, merely adorning the edges? The pool doesn't open until 9am, so if you are there for a conference, don't think about a pre-breakfast swim for exercise.

Guests are not allowed to iron clothes. The excuse given is “European fire regulations”. Strange, I’ve never encountered that regulation in other, lowlier hotels in Europe! Might it have anything to do with the exorbitant prices they charge for the hotel laundry to iron clothes? I did see one guest scuttling down a corridor with a contraband iron! It was cheaper to buy one new and smuggle it in than pay ironing prices (eg 11 Euros per shirt, 3 per pair of nickers, for those so inclined)

A coffee costs 8 Euros, a small coke from the minibar the same. A hamburger is 25 Euros. Check your bill on the TV regularly - we found mysterious minibar charges appeared which we had to query. They were politely amended.

The hotel has a shuttle bus which operates a few times a day to Piazza Barberini in Rome; be sure to queue at least 10 minutes before departure to get a place; otherwise it is a taxi ride, or there are public buses from nearby, but you won’t be volunteered that information by hotel staff.

You pay the same whether you have a view over Rome or not. The "other" side where we were has a splendid view of an enormous communcations tower and the hotel driveway.

There is no need to pay the hyper-inflated food prices at the hotel as there are some terrific restaurants nearby for those who venture out of the “compound”. Turn right out of the hotel and walk about 10 minutes to Piazza delle Medaglie d’Oro and you will find some good options, including a Sicilian restaurant . A bit further on, in via Prisciano, da Luciano can be recommended. Good local fare in a middle-class neighbourhood.

Below: The magnificent view of the Communications Tower from our room

Below: The lift foyer on our floor

Below: A sign spotted on a room service trolley in our corridor

Below: The room

Below: The pool

17. Pompei - the Hotel Diana

We just loved the Hotel Diana - the antithesis of The overblown Hilton Cavalieri. A small, family owned place, the staff are as friendly and helpful as you could wish, the coffee hot (and affordable - 1 Euro a cup!) and the general ambience unpretentious and delightful.

The outside terrace surrounded by orange trees was a lovely spot to rest after a day paying homage to the Ancients, or to bring a few slad makings back for an evening feast, and just generally chat and unwind.

The Diana is 100 m from the main rail station, on a quiet, dead end street, so no passing traffic. If you find yourself sojourning in Pompei, we thoroughly recommend the Diana!

Above: Breakfast at the Diana. Not shown, but also featured were handpicked apricots and oranges from the hotel garden.

31. Lucca - the apartment

We rented a studio apartment for the three nights we were in Lucca. It was in the building below...enter by the green door, and it was on the first floor on the left hand side. You can see two open windows, and a trompe l'oeil window on the side wall.

The location was really convenient - inside the walls, and walking distance to everywhere.

Although small, we had a very comfortable stay there. Three people is the maximum that can be accommodated here, but the owners own another, larger apartment in the same building.
See their website here.

32. Lucca - from the apartment window

36. Menton - the house

Our beautiful friend, Jilly not only opened her gorgeous home to us, she squired us around and showed us the lovely places in her part of the world. Jilly boards dogs at her dog pension, so we also had the company of four lovely dogs, all impeccably well-behaved.

Below: Houses nestled in a valley above Menton with a view to the ocean. The roof top just below road level is our digs.

Below: The upper terrace

Below: Breakfast on the upper terrace

Below: Ben and the pugs settle in for some TV watching
Below: The lower terrace. Our suite was through the further blue shuttered doors
Below: Looking from the lower to upper terrace

Below: Our room

Below: one of our fellow guests at Pension Milou, Rosie.

Below: Beau is Canine-In-Residence. A lovely fellow who has had a hard life until adopted by Jilly. Now he is king of the castle, but a very 'umble one!

48. Avignon - the apartment

Nathalie's friend Françoise has recently renovated a studio apartment in her house. We rented it for 5 nights and found it suited us perfectly. We were inside the city walls, just off the Rue des Teinturiers, and walking distance of everything there is to see in Avigono. Plus the bonus of being in a "real" part of town, not surrounded by tourists day and night. That's what we love best about accommodation - somewhere close to the tourist action but in the thick of "real life".