Hotelrome.net Blog : A guide to news and events in Rome

Our blogger: Marcelo

-Marcelo, philosophical as ever talks about an ongoing exhibition in Rome and while at it takes us for a walk into Leonardo’s mind.

Simply beyond any kind of definition! How can you say that you are something when you are everything? Sculptor, architect, painter, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, anatomist, inventor, writer, botanist, geologist…The very meaning of ‘’open mind’’ is fitting better than never  for someone who explored every single aspect of human being and his relationship with nature. Not for a moment The Beauty was forgotten, since a searcher of the Truth is first of all a lover of the Truth.

Understanding the Truth as a whole is certainly the very spirit of the renaissance. That spirit was fully alive in Leonardo.He dreamed of a flying man, walking on water beyond limitations not by going against nature but through a fully understanding of it . And so in time the dreams became true by an unconditioned faith in nature and human being that gave inspiration to mankind…

The exhibition ‘’ Leonardo, il genio e le invenzioni’’ (Leonardo da Vinci – genius and inventions) At the Palace of the Chancellery is being held in Rome until April 30th 2010. Mostly focused on “machines” designed by the genius find on display fifty-operated machines and available to the visitor to touch and feel.

The machines are divided into five categories: water, air, earth, fire and mechanisms. The first four categories including that interacting ‘’element’’ of nature while the last one instead contains all those machines that may have different applications.

The man had always looked at the sky with an inexpressible feeling of wonder. Leonardo not only looked but worked on in order to design his very famous flying machines (including the parachute).

His genius, however, not only turned to the sky but also to the sea, to enable humans to explore its depths. It seems that Leonardo developed a diver or even a submarine. Later he decided to quit the experiments in fearing that they might be used for illicit purposes such as piracy.  Ethics were part of his vision. Funny enough anyway, to consider that a device for a ‘’miracle’’ (walking on water) was also provided by his creative mind.

This exhibition includes a chain that Leonardo designed for bicycles and watches. By this Leonardo anticipated the invention of a car.

Among the inventions relating to water: the innovative hydraulic saw, which uses water power to drive an automatic system capable of cutting timber and saving human labor.

Now you’ve read about it. You may have red lot about Leonardo. Maybe it’s time to experience directly yourself. Just exactly as he intended it… Isn’t it?

To get there from our locations Hotel Des Artistes Rome or Yes Hotel Rome is very easy by simply taking the bus 40 or 492 arriving there in no more than twenty minutes! If you need accommodation check www.hoteldesartistes.com or www.yeshotelrome.com.

Our Blogger: Marcelo

According to the fourth edition of PhoCusWright’s European Online Travel Overview, the total number of bookings on line in Europe came to 42 per cent in 2008. This is an increase of 19 per cent. And Italy is still  the most popular destination on the continent. The mix of history, culture, food and sport attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.

The United States had already reached 56 per cent during 2008 (it is expected that that will exceed 60 per cent in 2009). For the European market, in the near future, the percentage of travel booked online compared with total purchases will exceed its target by 50%.

This research also shows that while Europe is still chasing the United States in terms of online penetration on the market, some are more mature than others. The United Kingdom and Scandinavia are clearly heading the pack. In 2008 the Scandinavians booked more than 40 per cent of their trips on the Internet.

Nowadays online bookings for leisure or business individually represent 29 per cent of 246 billion euros of European tourism at the close of 2008.

The online booking channels continue to gain market share. Carroll Rheem, director of research for PhoCusWright.: “Consumers use the Internet to find the best value for money, operators to minimize the costs of distribution.’’

One of the most important things on a vacation especially vacation to a city like Rome is good accommodation.  Where you sleep is imperative, it is your home, away.
Finding a hotel in a good location is also very important, it is always better to find accommodation that is relatively close to where you want to be, especially in an area you know is safe.
Rome is flooded with tourists from all over the world throughout the year. Many tourists come to Rome expecting to find accommodation as they arrive, but this is not as easy said as done. Many and many people arrive at hotels enquiring for rooms to find that the rooms are not available for the total duration of stay, or even the price range is out of their budget, or even that all the hotels are fully booked.

To prevent this from happening to you listed below are some of the main hotels based in good locations.

Hotel Des Artistes
Hotel Des Artistes Hotel is located just five minute’s from the main railway station Termini on a quiet side street in the city centre. Hotel des Artistes is perfect for a romantic getaway and a relaxing time or a business trip. The rooms are thoughtfully decorated with rich fabrics, original paintings from the beginning of the 20th century and mahogany furniture. On the top floor of the hotel you can relax on the beautiful roof terrace, a perfect place to end the night.

          

Via Villafranca 20
Roma 00185
0039 06 4454365
http://www.hoteldesartistes.com/ 
 

Yes Hotel

Yes hotel is a new hotel which opened mid 2007.   Located centrally with rooms  designed to offer a comforting atmosphere, with warm colours and vibrant fabrics are welcoming and relaxing offering a classic style with finest mahogany furniture and walls adorned with rich paintings. Yes Hotel offers the latest technology with the everyday special needs such as plasma televisions, hairdryers, direct dial telephones, electronic safes and air conditioning.

        

Yes Hotel
Via Magenta, 15
00185 Rome
0039 06 44363836
http://www.yeshotelrome.com/

If you have the chance to get some time off work in January or February, do it: in the European cities like Rome these winter months are low season and therefore perfect for low budget travellers! Everything, starting from the flights, costs much less than a few months later. The low cost flight companies like Ryanair or Easyjet offer flights between the European cities for the cost of little less than the airport taxes and the hotel rates are even 50% lower than in the high season: check the Hotel in Rome Des Artistes located in the city center and their spectacular winter rates! For even cheaper rates, try the Hostel Des Artistes, or the hotel Carlito’s Way, but frankly, in low season you should take advantage and pamper yourself with a three star –treatment…

Not to speak of the shopping: January is the time of the great sales in all of Europe, so what better time is there to travel in Rome, one of the capital cities of the European fashion… The sales in Rome start officially on the 10th of January and go on for weeks.

And it’s not just your purse you’re doing a favor to, but also your nerves: the queue to the Vatican Museum in January is hardly the third as long as it is in May, and the same goes for all the tourist attractions. Even though in Rome you never need to fear getting bored: there’s always something going on, just in this time of year it’s less crowded and less chaotic. Also, with less tourists around, the professionals of tourism – receptionists, waiters, guides – are less stressed and busy and have more time to dedicate to you. You tend to better treatment everywhere and get closer to the real local way of life.

Of course, in January you won’t be able to go to the beach or get a sun tan, but in Rome the weather is quite nice around the year anyway, and on the other hand, in the city a hot summery weather can be all but pleasant. In January you usually get enough sun to have long lunches in the street side tables of the trattorias, if not enough for actual sun bathing, and towards the end of February the spring starts to take over.