Finding hotels for a family of five people while traveling in the U.S.A. is usually difficult. But in Europe, it’s even harder. Most hotel rooms only fit two people in Europe, which means even two regular rooms often won’t suffice for a family of five.
For my family’s recent European trip, I was happy to find a reasonably-priced option on Booking.com for a night in Rome.
Big House Colosseum Apartment
My family had one night in Rome before our cruise, and one night after the cruise. For our first night in Rome, I wanted to be close to the Colosseum in order to take an after-hours night tour (which unfortunately was canceled last-minute). And, I wanted a place that was big enough to where my kids wouldn’t have to share a bed. Big House Colosseum fit the bill.
Big House Colosseum is right down the street from the Colosseum. We could see the Colosseum from our bedroom window.
The apartment has 3 bedrooms: King Bed, Queen Bed and Two Twins. My kids didn’t have to share a bed, which cuts down on the bickering.
The bedroom windows are great, because once closed we could barely hear any street noise.
The apartment has two large bathrooms with bidets. One of the bathrooms has a washer/dryer combo that we did not use.
The large living room had an air conditioner! We really appreciated that!
The kitchen was well-stocked with pans and utensils, although I confess we didn’t cook in it at all.
The only downside to Big House Colosseum is that the building doesn’t have an elevator. We had to climb two flights of narrow stairs with our luggage. Thankfully, we packed light.
I booked the apartment on Booking.com for a nightly rate of 176 Euros plus a 70 Euros cleaning fee. At a total rate of 246 Euros, I feel the apartment is a good deal for a larger family.
Final Thoughts
As my kids get older, I’m looking to apartments more often than hotels for our travels. I love having the extra space and the extra beds. I’m glad we found a good one for our first night in Rome.
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
I would be interested on how you travelled from Rome to Civitavecchia cruise port. The wife and I did it by train, and were lucky to get off the train in Civitavecchia and then it got more difficult to get from the train station to the cruise ship. We could see the cruise ship but still too far to walk.
A local gave us a ride for a small fee. There is a bus but difficult to understand the bus schedule and local found us first.
@CJH We splurged on a car service. After schlepping around Venice and Rome, I wanted our trip to the cruise port to be painless.
Car service is what the wife and I will have to do. For European cruising we always arrive early, therefore we are on our own regarding transportation to the cruise port. Civitavecchia is a challenge and does warrant car service. Thank you for the update.