HOLY HOSPITALITY

We rang the doorbell at 62 Via Monte Brianzo with hopes high and fingers crossed. My husband and I had just arrived in Rome on our first trip to Italy. Without a room reservation. Our search for economical lodging was centered on Fraterna Domus, mentioned in an outdated guidebook. “Run by a religious organization, 20 rooms, good value, central location, all rooms with private bath,” the listing said. That sounded like just what we wanted, but would there be a room available?

We’d asked the tourist office at Rome’s Termini train station to call Fraterna Domus about room availability for us. They refused because it wasn’t on their official list. Unable to hold a phone conversation in Italian ourselves, we had no choice but to take a cab there and inquire in person. That turned out to be the first lucky step leading to our discovery last October of four religious guest houses in Italy with budget rates. After we returned home, we learned that there are many others--several of which are in Rome at excellent locations.

At Fraterna Domus, Sister Melena, a woman in her 4Os with a ready smile, answered the door. Despite her lack of English and our minuscule Italian vocabulary, we learned she had a room for two with breakfast for $52 a night.

A bargain rate like that in Rome? What could the room be like, we wondered as the sister led us through the cozy dining room and up one flight. Room 3 was modest, spotless, plain and comfortable, with three single beds, a wardrobe, desk and chair and one window. An attached tiny bathroom had an unenclosed shower with a floor drain--a common arrangement in Italy. Not for lovers of luxury, but the room suited us just fine. And there was more good news: Lunch or dinner was served for an additional $10 per person. The 11 p.m. curfew didn’t inconvenience us.

The location, between the Piazza Navona and the Tiber River, was excellent. We were able to walk to the Vatican, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Campo dei Fiori, Roman Forum and other prime sites.

Dead tired by evening, we were often content to dine “at home” on the simple but satisfying meals served by the sisters, who all wore street clothes. Dinners included a choice of soup or pasta, entrees such as pot roast or veal stew with rosemary, and vegetables, potatoes and salad. Dessert was always several kinds of fresh fruit, and wine was available for about $3 a bottle. Meeting other Fraterna Domus guests, a mini U.N., enhanced our dinners. We talked with a nun from Japan, tourists from Canada, Germany, Chile and other parts of Italy. There were no other American guests while we were there.

It was the Japanese nun with excellent English who provided some historical perspective on staying with nuns and monks. Taking in wayfaring strangers, she told us, has a long tradition among religious orders. That was especially true during the Middle Ages, when thousands of the faithful in Europe made pilgrimages to revered sites such as Rome and Jerusalem. Both sisters and brothers assisted their fellow religionists by providing a haven for the pilgrims to rest and recuperate on their arduous journeys.

Today it’s the religious orders themselves whose survival is at stake. As their numbers shrink and the cost of keeping up their property rises, they need more income. Some cope by opening their homes to paying guests, usually whether or not they are Catholic.

Particularly in Rome, religious guest houses are gearing up to meet lodging needs for the year 2000, when about 20 million tourists are expected to converge on the city for millennium celebrations and the Holy Year declared by Pope John Paul II. Concerned about a dearth of hotel rooms during that time, the Italian government is making it legally easier for convents and monasteries to house travelers.

In return for staying in budget lodgings, travelers should know that few of the guest houses have TVs in the rooms and most beds are singles; unmarried couples would probably not be welcomed and many of the lodgings have curfews. Booking in advance by telephone can also be problematic, unless you can solicit the help of a friend who speaks Italian.

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Still, the relative value and convenience can be worth it, as at three other religious guest houses in Rome: Signora di Lourdes, Casa di Santa Brigida and the Convent of San Giuseppe della Montagna. While we didn’t stay at any of these, they share excellent reputations.

Signora di Lourdes, run by the Sisters of Lourdes order, is touted by several guidebooks and consequently can book up as long as months in advance. One reason is its location on the Via Sistina, about halfway between the Spanish Steps and the Piazza Barberini. Like most religious lodgings, there’s a curfew--this one at 10:30 p.m. And the sisters take that curfew very seriously.

Still, there are reportedly plenty of pluses, including an elevator and a rooftop terrace with city views. Small, modest rooms have modern baths. Interior rooms on a courtyard are said to be quieter than those on the street.

Despite higher-than-usual rates for a religious guest houses, the Rome convent-guest house Casa di Santa Brigida is also often booked far in advance. The beauty of this convent and its Brigittine sisters, who have a reputation for kindness, help account for its popularity. It’s located near the Pantheon and it sits opposite the Palazzo Farnese, a Renaissance palace where the French Embassy is now housed. The sisters, some of whom speak English, dress in gray habits and black veils with a charming Juliet-style look. We weren’t able to inspect it, but according to a recent magazine article, the convent’s public rooms on the ground floor are furnished with leather chairs, sofas and Oriental rugs. Several sitting rooms, a small library and roof terrace upstairs are reached by elevator, and each of the 24 rooms--which fetch up to $71 a night--has a telephone and private bath.

Travelers unwilling to cough up extra cash for such ambience will find less pricey pickings in summer at the Convent of San Giuseppe della Montagna, across the Tiber River near the Vatican. It’s within easy walking distance of the vast Vatican Museums, yet removed from the flood of visitors. Down side: The convent/seminary complex is open to outside guests July to mid-September only.

The sisters of San Giuseppe della Montagna rent out 15 plain rooms, doubles and triples, all with private baths. Guests get keys and have no curfew.

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My husband and I were so pleased with our stay at Fraterna Domus in Rome that we asked Sister Melena if she knew of other similar lodgings to the north, where we were headed in our rental car. Using her first recommendation, we found Alma Domus in Siena to be outstanding. If only we hadn’t arrived so late in the day.

Morning is the best time to snag a budget room of any kind anywhere. But we’d arrived in the beautiful medieval walled city of Siena after 4 p.m. last fall. Again, the tourist office--overwhelmed by visitors seeking information--declined to telephone the guest house for us. They did give us a map, but by the time we found Alma Domus, a convent and guest house associated with the Sanctuary of Santa Catarina next door, and entered its enclosed garden, dusk was falling.

At first, Sister Giacinta, an elderly, no-nonsense nun in a black habit, said they had no double room. I assumed a woebegone manner and flashed the Fraterna Domus business card, stressing how much we’d liked staying there. Eventually a room with twin beds and private bath materialized. The price was $46 for a double. Breakfast was an extra $5 per person. The $5 seemed pricey to us for coffee and rolls, but we took the room sight unseen.

It was down one flight, clean and comfortable, with just one thing missing: natural light. The window faced a dim air shaft. My husband and I suspected the room was their least-desirable, rented only when none of the 30 other rooms were available. That could explain Sister Giacinta’s hesitation. Grateful to find any acceptable room at that hour, we didn’t complain.

Exploring the other floors and peeping into vacated rooms the next morning, I found out how desirable Alma Domus really was. Rooms on the floors above ours had balconies with marvelous views of the striped Duomo, as well as the red-tile roofs and chimney pots of Siena spread below--for the same price we paid. Alma Domus had not only economy but also ambience. Moral: Don’t pull into town at sunset.

The town of Volterra, where we visited the Etruscan Museum, was not an overnight stop on our itinerary. But we were tempted to stay after inspecting the Seminario Sant’Andrea, a seminary next door to the church of the same name. Attractive and pleasant, it has 30 rooms, with and without private bathrooms. Those with baths cost $20 per person; those without are $16 per person. A five-minute walk from the town center, the convent has large, quiet rooms that open off wide hallways adorned with frescoes. Seminario Sant’Andrea was definitely another find to add to our growing list of budget accommodations.

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Later our trip took us to Venice, where we inquired at the tourist office about the location of another of Sister Melena’s lodging suggestions. We struck out at first; it is open only June through September, the young tourism official told us. Did she know of any other similar places? That question got us a brochure of Venice lodgings containing such a list. But visitors must choose among them carefully. Many are youth hostels with dormitory-type accommodations. Not what we were looking for. The woman marked three offering private rooms with baths.

We chose Istituto San Giuseppe, a convent guest house open year-round in the Castello quarter, close by the Piazza San Marco. Like the places we’d already visited, San Giuseppe had no sign, nothing to tell a passerby it took in lodgers. (Nor did the staff there speak English.) Elderly Sister Serafina, in a habit, let us in. We showed her the business cards of the other religious organizations we’d stayed with and waited until she found a room. San Giuseppe has 15 rooms, all with private baths, at $22 per person, per night. No meals are served. Curfew is 11 p.m.

Taking us in tow, Sister Serafina led us across an open courtyard and into a wide corridor bounded by classrooms. Besides taking in visitors, the sisters run an elementary school. Then we entered a far more modern part of the Istituto that seemed of recent construction. An elevator took us up to the fourth floor.

Our room, with beamed ceiling, was the most modern we’d encountered so far. Paint was unscarred, furniture appeared brand new. There were three single beds with night stands between them, a large wardrobe, three chairs and a writing table. A casement window looked out on rooftops. The bath was thoroughly up-to-date and the first we’d had with an enclosed shower stall. We couldn’t believe our good fortune: to be staying in mythic Venice, one of the most expensive cities in Italy, in such comfort, within five short blocks of St. Mark’s Square.

Every morning on our way out of San Giuseppe, we passed lively Italian children coming to school, many brought by their mothers. In our comings and goings, we saw only a few other guests, all Italian.

Accommodations offered by religious organizations certainly turned out to be one way to cut the generally high cost of Italy. While many visitors with their hearts set on a room overlooking the Grand Canal might disagree, we adopted this Italian travel philosophy: Live half as luxuriously and stay away twice as long.

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GUIDEBOOK

Divine Digs in Italy

Getting there: Alitalia, Delta, TWA and USAirways fly, with one stop but no change of planes, from LAX to Rome. Continental, British Air, KLM, Lufthansa and Swissair offer service with one change of planes. Advance-purchase, round-trip fares start at $1,113.

Religious guest houses: Alma Domes, Via Camporegio 37, Siena; from the United States, telephone 011-39-577-44-177 or fax 011-39-577-4760. The rate is $46 for a double; breakfast is an extra $5 per person. Reservations can be made by fax.

Casa di Santa Brigida, Piazza Farnese 96, Rome; tel. 011-39-6-68-89-24-97. The guest house entrance is on Via Monserrato 54. Reservations can be guaranteed in advance with a credit card. The rate is $71 per person, including breakfast. Reservations should be made far in advance.

Fraterna Domus, Via Monte Brianzo 62, Rome; tel. 011-39-6-688-02727. Singles with bath cost about $32 and without bath, $27; doubles with a bath are $59.

Istituto San Giuseppe, Ponte della Guerra, Castello 54U2, Venice; 011-39-41-522-5352. The price is $22 per person per night.

San Giuseppe della Montagna, Viale Vaticano 88, Rome; tel. 011-39-6-39-72-38-07. Cash and credit cards are accepted. The rate is about $28 per person, including breakfast.

Seminario Sant’Andrea, Viale Vittorio Veneto 2, Volterra; tel. 011-39-588-860-28. Rooms with baths cost $20 per person; those without are $16 per person.

Signora di Lourdes, Via Sistina 113, Rome; tel. 011-39-6-47-45-324. Pay in Italian lire only. The cost is about $59 for a double with bath. Reservations should be made far in advance.

For more information: Italian Government Tourist Board, 12400 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Los Angeles 90025; (310) 820-0098, fax (310) 820-6357.