Hotels and Lodging

As of Jan. 1, Rome, Italy, is collecting a new city tax on hotel rooms. The tax is per person per night and applies to all guests over the age of 10: €1 at B&Bs and campsites, €2 at one- to three-star hotels and €3 at four- and five-star hotels. (Two adults at a four-star for seven nights would pay €42 [$58] in tax.)

The tax cannot be prepaid when booking and is added on the bill at checkout. Be aware that even if you prepay your room through a travel agency, you still will have to pay the extra tax when checking out.

by Philip Wagenaar (Part seven of a series)

In the last three issues, we printed subscribers’ advice on renting apartments outside of the US. This month we lead with some practical advice by a reader followed by appraisals of specific apartments. We’ll do the same next month.

On our way to a week in Umbria in September ’09, my husband, two friends and I debated descriptions of the various villas along the tourist trail and decided on a visit to the Villa d’Este (Piazza Trento, 5) in Tivoli, ground central for villas.

We made our way to the center of the city and discovered that we were practically at the doorstep of Villa d’Este. (Entry, €10 [near $14] adult; closed Monday.)

After my two teenage sons and I took the wonderful “Rhine Getaway” cruise from Viking River Cruises in June ’10, we took the train in Switzerland from Basel to Lucerne for a two-night stay.

My wife, Vera, and I stayed at the Etap Hotel Valence centre (65 Av. du Tricastin, 26000 Valence, France; phone +33 892680673), Oct. 7, 2010.

After a tour of France in May ’10, my wife, Rose, and I stayed at the charming but small Hotel du Champ de Mars (7 rue du Champ de Mars, Paris 75007; phone +33 1 45 51 52 30) for three nights.

The hotel is in a wonderful neighborhood with lots of sidewalk cafés always busy with people, plus markets, shops and a bakery or two. There are two Métro stations nearby, and you can walk to the Eiffel Tower although it’s about eight or ten blocks.

In Prague, the delightful Unitas Hotel (Bartolomejska 9, 11000 Praha 1, Czech Republic; phone 00420 224 230 533), built in 2008, is more than worth the price: €109 to €139 (near $148-$188) for a double, depending on the season.

Its rooms, air-conditioned, are incredibly spacious and have a kitchen corner with a refrigerator, microwave, dishes, silverware and a coffee pot with supplies. Included in the price is an extremely generous breakfast with omelets, pancakes, cheeses, breads, coffee cakes and other goodies.

My husband, Norman, and I found a gem of a hotel in Panama City. We stayed at the three-star Hotel Bahía Suites (Calle 31 con Justo Arosemena; phone 011 507 225 8578), in the Calidonia area of Panama City, Aug. 24-Sept. 1, 2010.

Our queen standard room, $69 per night, included a fabulous full breakfast served in the rooftop restaurant with its panoramic view of the city, the Casco Viejo and the Bay of Panama. King standard rooms cost $79 per night.