Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone knows the names of any safe/clean, but cheaper hotels and/or hostels with quad rooms in Rome, Florence and Venice - and also Milan.

Four girls traveling together in March and would like to stay together as well.

Thanks!
Brooke J.

Hi Brooke J.! I haven't got any specific hostels to recommend, but there are many internet sites where you could have a look, and the guides to the most visited cities, with useful tips on places, food, etc

Hi, Brooke:

I visited and/or stayed in several hostels & budget hotels each in Venice, Florence, & Rome. You can read my reviews of the hostels on these pages:

Hostels in Rome
Hostels in Florence
Hostels in Venice

In Florence, I really liked the Academy Hostel - all the furniture is modular, so you can reconfigure the room however you'd like. The dorm rooms have 3-6 beds in them, but in March you could luck out with a 6-bed dorm & no one else in it. I also liked the Archi Rossi Hostel; super nice people & very cool old building. It's older than Academy, but very well-maintained & has a nice social vibe (more so than Academy).

In Rome, I liked M&J and The Yellow. Both have dorms which sleep more than four people, but you could luck out with no other guests to share the room with because you're visiting in March. Having said that, it was March when I was there, & M&J was always full. They tend to get lots of walk-in traffic because they're close to Termini Station. The Yellow wasn't full when I visited.

In Venice, the only "real" hostel is Ostello Venezia, which is fine but wouldn't have been my first choice. Even though it costs a bit more, I prefer a budget hotel in Venice. I recently wrote about some of the hotels near St. Mark's Square, some of which have quads (or they have triples to which you can add a cot). I know that the price can be off-putting in Venice when it comes to accommodation, but I'd highly recommend staying in Venice itself rather than finding a cheaper place on the mainland. You'll lose some of the after-dark ambiance of Venice if you're only seeing it as a day-tripper.

If you've got other questions, please let me know - I love talking about Italy, as you can see.

Ooh, and I forgot you asked about Milan, too. Milan, as you might already know, is super-expensive for travelers, especially budget travelers. It's a business city, & there always seems to be some conference or trade fair going on, so even budget hotels are often booked well in advance. I got a question about finding a decent hotel in Milan awhile ago, which I answered here with some links to hotels I'd either stayed in personally or had found in/near the city center - so hopefully one of those turns out to be something that'll work for you.

As I mention in that post, you might also check the Milan Craigslist, especially if you don't mind the idea of staying in an apartment. You might have a bit more trouble finding a place that has enough space for four people, but you never know!

Hi Jessie!

Thanks for the all the information. I'm checking them out now and am sure I'll find something great for the four of us.

Not sure about Milan yet. I'm actually living close to Milan for the next few months, so I may have a place to stay... but thank you for adding it - good to know, no matter the case!

Brooke