Where to Stay - Italy and Greece

Lodging can certainly make or break a trip in terms of budget. And while we knew we couldn't afford top of the line everywhere we went (budget-savvy travelers!), we also didn't want to stay somewhere that was unsafe or unsanitary.

When it came to booking lodging for Italy and Greece, the planner in me started looking immediately after we had our flights booked. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to get a better feel of what it would cost in case we needed to budget more money, and next, I figured if we found a good deal, we should snag it before it was gone!

Our front door - Room 110

First up was Santorini, for no other reason except we knew we would splurge here. I had been eyeing a hotel for quite some time, but when it came to actually booking it, the price for one night was our budget for three, so back to the drawing board! I knew in Santorini that I wanted to stay in the neighborhood of Oia, and try to stay in a cave hotel. With our small budget, this gave us limited options, but we found a great place in the Residence Suites. Residence Suites has several sister locations in Santorini, and ours was the most affordable option. As you read from our previous post, though, it was an excellent option because the private patio and view we had of the caldera was worth every penny. This hotel does not have a pool, but does have a hot tub and a cold water tub (their version of the pool). They also do not have a restaurant, but we didn't mind, it gave us a reason to go exploring. 

Sunrise from our patio

Be prepared with Residence Suites, there is no formal front desk, you have to check in at the bus stop. This did not bother us, but I read several complaints online prior, mainly because people weren't aware. As long as you know, then no worries. If you stay at this hotel and book online with them directly, you can also get a complimentary shuttle from the airport. To get our room, ask for room 110 - you won't regret it!

Would we stay here again? Absolutely! But to mix things up we would probably try somewhere new. This was our take on it: By staying in Oia, we could explore in the morning without the crazy crowds and enjoy it. Plus, we had easy access to Ammoudi Bay, beautiful sunsets, the domes, etc. Now that we've been, we would probably stay in a neighborhood like Imergovli where we can enjoy sunsets from our hotel room, and ATV over to Oia. As long as you prepare yourself for crowds, you can't go wrong!

In Athens, we just felt like AirBnb was the way to go. When looking online, I found the cutest place that had a private rooftop patio (yes, please!), called island in the sky. When I showed it to Bryan, he fell in love and started looking at the neighborhood, Koukaki. Turns out, AirBnb named this neighborhood as one of the top five in the world! Well, this just sold us on it and the price was great! What was interesting about this place is that it was the only room on the 6th floor, which is why we had a private rooftop patio. We would take the elevator up five floors, and walk up one (small) flight of stairs to the top. The apartment as a whole was fairly small, but again, we're not there to stay in the room! Our hosts were also incredibly accommodating and were quick to answer any questions we had! Such a peaceful way to end our trip! Would we stay in Koukaki again? Maybe. While the neighborhood was adorable and had incredible food, we weren't exactly close to anything in Athens. Not that it takes long to walk, but sometimes it's nice to just pop out to where you need to go!

One last thing to note about Greece lodging - you can't flush the toilet paper! This one threw us off big time. The plumbing is not great, so everywhere we stayed, you had to put the toilet paper in the trash can, not the toilet. I forgot a few times myself, but did my best. Not something you're used to in America!

To search for lodging in Italy, we started with Rome. We went back and forth on what and where to stay here since we knew it would be a very short stay. After some time, we decided to spend a tad more money than we normally would and get a hotel since it would be our first stop after a long day of travelling. The hotel was called Hotel Raffaello. We read through our Frommer's book and the various neighborhoods and landed on Monti. This neighborhood in Rome is a trendy spot in the city, with a lot of great restaurants and night clubs and it just sounded fun to us. It also helped that it was only about a ten minute walk from both the Colosseum (which was our only tour in Rome) and the train station. The hotel offered a car service for a fee, which we happily reserved. They also had a lot of great amenities we could use - including having a bottle of prosecco waiting for us when we arrived. The hotel even had breakfast (for a small cost) which was a great way to start our day! Would we stay here again? Absolutely! And we would definitely go back to that neighborhood!

Breakfast nook at the hotel

Florence was the next city we booked and we knew we wanted something fun since we would be there three nights. We went to AirBnb again and found this great place called, 'Your Happy Home in Florence'. The pictures caught my eye right away, and then because of the price it kept popping up on our radar. It wasn't until, again, we read about the various neighborhoods and realized this one is in Santa Croce. This spot is east of Florence city center and not 'close' to your typical hot spots, but that's exactly why we liked it. Everything in Florence is walkable and the home was off the beaten path, so just perfect for us! We had plenty of space to spread out, only walked up two flights of stairs and the hosts gave us a welcome bottle of wine upon arrival! And quite a few of the places we wanted to visit ended up being in Santa Croce, so you can't beat that! The only downside for us was that several of our tours met at the train or bus station, which is on the opposite end of town. Not exactly convenient, but again, if you know this going into it (which we did) then just enjoy the walk along the way! Would we stay here again? Oh yeah!

The entrance to the hotel

Last up was Turin. This one was a bit tricky because none of our friends had ever been before, and there wasn't much to read about online in terms of neighborhoods. So we did it the old fashioned way. I looked at both AirBnb and online for hotels to find places we liked that were in our budget. After that, I looked at the neighborhoods they were in and if it was close to the train station and picked it from there. We ended up staying at a boutique hotel called Apart Hotel Torino. So boutique that if we didn't get there by 6pm, we couldn't check in. Also, we knew that it was going to be hard to find based on reviews, but we still had trouble. It was only about a 10 minute walk from the train station (yay), but the door looks like a garage door, which you then walk through a courtyard looking thing before going up two flights of stairs for check in. Wow! A little much. But again, this place was beautiful. It was in the neighborhood called San Salvario was we learned is also the trendy new spot to be in! Incredible restaurants within walking distance and so much more. Would we stay here again? Absolutely!

Street view in Turin

With the exception of Florence, every single one of our homes (in Italy and Greece) had its own private balcony or rooftop which was such an extra bonus. And each was in such a fun and trendy neighborhood - we just got lucky with that one - but so fun to experience!

Gotta keep the power on!

Lessons learned in Italy? Our two hotels and their lights are powered by the hotel keys. You cannot have AC or electricity without the key being plugged into the wall. When we landed in Rome and couldn't figure this out, we were tired and cranky. By the time we realized what was happening, we just laughed because it was so absurd! Another lesson, more advice, determine what you want in your lodging location. Are you looking for something away from tourists? Do you want easy access to all of the main sites? Amenities including food, car service, etc? While planning on a budget, it's hard to find all of these so figure out which is most important to help narrow down your final destination!