Tierom

Looking for a central apartment in Rome for 2 adults and 2 children, near major attractions and markets. Travelling 2nd week of August. Any suggestions or recommendations? Also, what would be some of your "must sees" especially for children (6 and 9)? Cheers

Tierom

Try www.vrbo.com and look for the area that you are interested in staying. Usually, you can secure a great apartment.

Enjoy.

gracie04

Try www.sleepinitaly.com. I've had good experiences with them in the past.

Tierom

Thanks Gracie04, I will give check out the web-site. From what I have seen, they have a nice inventory of apartments. Only negative is that I have not seen travellers comments of the properties.

charnees

For reviews, go to TripAdvisor or SlowTrav.com.

If you mean you will be there in 6 or 7 weeks, you had better act fast!! It's the height of the tourist season and most good places will be taken already. Include Trastevere (across the Tiber) in your search. It's easy to get to the main attractions from there.

We had good experiences with both VRBO and sleepinitaly.

annhig

Hi Tierom,

as you are travelling in august with kids, can i suggest that you look for the following in any apartment you decide on:

air con

a washing machine

below 2nd floor or lift

a central location.


with children of the ages of yours, you will appreciate being able to go back to your apartment in the heat of the day and being able to let the kids [and you] have a rest in the heat of the day. THat's why you need a central location and air con. also, you will get seriously fed up if you have to carry the younger one/the kids' luggage and yours up a load of stairs. Finally, having a washing machine will enable you to take far less luggage than otherwise, again a boon with children in tow.

it will be worth paying a bit more for these features.

have a great trip!

Tierom

Thanks Annhig and Charnees for the valuable tips. I need to act quickly as rooms will soon be gone. I anticipated air cond. but the washing machine is a great suggestion.

jent103

Another vote for Sleep in Italy - I just got back a few weeks ago and stayed for five nights in their Piazza del Fico apartment. It has availability for at least part of the week you mention, though if you are planning to stay the entire week, it won't work. It has everything on annhig's list except that it is on the fourth floor of a walkup apartment building. It wasn't a big deal for us, but would be something to consider. There are two bedrooms, each with a double bed, and a living room with a loveseat and some wooden chairs (plus a kitchenette, one bathroom and a dining area). The location is great - we walked everywhere (though with smaller kids, you might look into the bus system). We did a load of laundry and the washer worked great.

https://www.sleepinitaly.com/en/show...d_appartam=247

tony56

Jent103,
thats good to hear I'll be staying at that same apartment in the near future and was a little conerned about location as well as the atmosphere of the apartment as it will be the first time we will try the apartment option. Sounds like you were satisfied with the rental. Anything you can recommend about restaurants, cafe's bars etc around the apartment?

jent103

Hi tony - yes, overall I was definitely satisfied (though I'm neither terribly picky nor expecting luxury). The apartment was clean, had plenty of space for us (two women), and everything worked well. The location was great - we walked everywhere (we're good walkers, though, and preferred that to figuring out the bus system).

There's a bar directly across from the apartment building, but we never tried it (we're not that into nightlife). However, judging by the number of people there, it seems very popular! That was actually the biggest down side of the apartment: The noise from the bar is pretty loud late at night if you're trying to sleep, even though the windows cut out a lot. I had earplugs and I was fine (and I'm a light sleeper), but it's something to plan for.

There are a couple of Carrefour Expresses (groceries) near the apartment, one on Via del Governo Vecchio and one on Via dei Coronari. There are quite a few restaurants in the area, but we only ate at Francesco's in the piazza (I wasn't terribly impressed, but it wasn't bad either). We were always in a different part of town, sightseeing, for lunch, and ate in three out of our five nights for dinner.

Here's a link to my trip report, in case it's helpful for planning (still in progress, but the Rome part is finished!): http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-to-italy.cfm

kwren

We haven't stayed here yet, but this SleepinItaly apt did have some good reviews so we booked it for a week in July:

https://www.sleepinitaly.com/en/show...d_appartam=345

We're travelling with 2 kids (my smaller one will sleep on the sleeper sofa), it's in a good location, has an elevator, A/C, washer dryer, and 2 full bathrooms. Don't know if it's available, but thought it would be a place to start.

tony56

Jent103,
Thanks for the link to the trip report. It makes for great reading. Quickly looking it over we have pretty close to the same itinerary. Rome for 5 days with similar daily plans we are taking a bus tour to Pompeii one day then head to Venice for two nights on to Munich for 4 and to Paris for 5. We are planning on purcahsing train tickets the day before each trip.

jent103

Thanks, tony! We did save about €15-20 each by buying our Rome-Venice tickets online ahead of time. We were able to get the Mini fare from Trenitalia that way, and it saved us time going to the train station.

Tierom

We have had much success with using Sleep-in-Italy.com for Rome and Venice accommodations. My emails were responded to promptly and confirmations sent quickly. Comments left by people using the accommodations were helpful.

CYESQ

Tierom: Nice of you to share your experience. Always good to hear back afterward. Thank you.

Tierom

We used Sleep in Italy for two apartments in Rome and one apartment in Venice. They were great and the apartments were well described. Only issues sometimes were with establishing a meeting time/place prior to taking possession of the apartment. A couple of pointers: If you are looking for a unit with a washing machine, ensure that you obtain instructions on how to use it. The washing machines are only washers and do not dry (although they have a high speed spin for drying), however racks are provided for drying. Also, ensure that you have a suitable cell phone provider in Italy. None of the apartments had phones (unlike in Paris) and we had to have a reliable provider here to reach the Sleep in Italy rep and other calls. Also since you have to pay cash upfront before staying in the unit, ensure that you are able to make sizeable withdrawals since you - no one wants too much money.

You read a lot about pick pockets, and sure enough in Rome, in the Termini station, my wife had a tiny little lady, put her hand in her purse. Fortunately, my wife felt her hand moving around and yelled out, at which point she disappeared into the crowds. I have also heard that little kids will start a commotion in front of you, while someone else grabs your wallet or purse.

All in all, Italy was fabulous but extremely hot in August. It did not get below 30 celcius the whole time, and it seemed that young and old were perspiring profusely. Night time offered some relief, but when you are a tourist, you are out during the day time. Lots of gelato, pizza, pasta, and wine. All in all a fabulous time!