Clarin

There was a very recent thread (Dec.) about apts in Rome that I cannot relocate. In the thread, a poster said she was dying to rent a specific apartment from Romanhomes.com. I looked at the apartment in question & indeed found it to be fabulous. So I dashed off an inquiry to Romanhomes, and *then* I searched Fodors to locate reviews for this outfit. HOLY COW! I don't want to start a big re-enactment of the decade-old hate-fest about the Dr. who ran/runs this place, but I am wondering, has anyone rented from Romanhomes lately - like within the past year or two? If so, does the good Dr. still run things & how was he?

Lastly, I also went over to Slowtrav to get reviews from them. Very peculiar. When I checked out the ONE review listed for Romanhomes, all it said was, "All reviews for the agency Roman Homes have been removed by Slow Travel." So what's up with that? Confusion reigns.

stepsbeyond

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...ome_Lazio.html

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-...ome_Lazio.html

and not recent, but interesting:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/200...ytravelsection

http://www.slate.com/id/78217/

Zerlina

Some years ago, the Dottore threatened to sue Slow Travel for posting a negative review. They wrangled for a time, then Slow Travel decided to eliminate the problem by removing all Roman Homes reviews and not accepting new ones.

Clarin

Thank you both for your kind entries. I don't know how the man stays in business. Perhaps he doesn't need the income & it's more of a hobby. Having said that, the apartment I wanted is already booked for my week in April so, clearly, he is doing all right. One down - many, many more to research.

wrenwood

Clarin ~ I have been looking at a lot of apartments for our October trip, and have realized that many are listed on multiple agencies. Try doing Google searches for the name, address or part of the description. You might find it elsewhere.

Clarin

That's so true. Didn't occur to me to look elsewhere for it because I figured if he says it's rented for my week, what's the point?

kybourbon

Yes, Abate still runs Roman Homes. He was banned from Fodor's years ago and most of his posts which were so rude were pulled.
http://www.romanhomes.com/overview/meet_your_hosts.htm

I would never rent from him as I've been on travel boards long enough to be familiar with his craziness and most apartments are listed on multiple sites. He used to rant on multiple travel boards dating back to the 90's, was banned from most and most of his posts deleted. I do like his neighborhood listings on his website. They show the piazzas, churches, cafes, etc. of different neighborhoods in Rome.
http://romanhomes.com/your_roman_vac...comparison.htm

wrenwood

When you check alternate sites for your apartment the name may not be the same, but at most of the sites you can filter/choose for location. You should be able to find out if it's listed at another agency that way.

I have the same apartment bookmarked under 4 different names at 4 different places (and prices!)

I have also put the address of the apartment and a few words of the description into a Google Search, works sometimes.

Good luck, it sure sounds we should stay away from romanhomes!

RTWin30days

Well, I am happy to see I'm not the only one this guy has been rude to. I planned a last minute trip to Rome for next week and have been searching for apartments. I sent an inquiry to him about a specific apartment that he said was not available but offered me one at twice the price. When I simply (and politely) asked if the owner was at all willing to negotiate on the price since the apartment was aparently still empty for next week, this is the response I got:

"Negotiating" might be accepted practice in your country, but in the majority of the countries in the world it is viewed negatively, and for most people in the world receiving a "negotiating" proposal is insulting. So this was insulting, not reminding you the reality. So before insulting people around the world, think twice.

- Your assumptions allow to understand your mentality. It should not matter to you if the property is "sitting empty", if it is a "last minute", etc.. The reality is not like this, the apartment will be rented, and there are companies preparing everything with a quality standard which cannot be sold for less. None of your business, and your attempt to make speculative reasonings is clear.
- you have another feature of the same mentality, so often in your country: the lack of self-criticism, which makes you even have the brazen face to complain and criticize, instead of understanding, and apologizing.

Please do not contact us again.

Regards,
Mauro Abate

So, in case you weren't sure, YES this guy is still a TOOL

Jennmb777

I am SO glad to hear that I am not the only person that this imbecile has been rude to. He is clearly not a stable person and lashes out at people inquiring about his properties for little to no reason. I sent him an email this morning regarding a rental. His response was beyond rude. I had to read it three times because I was so shocked that someome would speak to a potential client (let alone another person) that way. He said that he wasn't surprised that I (being an American) would be so rude as to email him on a Sunday. He also stated that people in "his country" do not work on Sundays. I informed him that most people in America don't work on Sundays either...this only infuriated him. He told me that I was ignorant, rude and "primitive". I was almost speechless...almost...I urged him not to waste any more of his precious Sunday time responding to me as we would be looking elsewhere for accomodations.

BEWARE!!!!!! If he's this rude to a potential renter, I can only imagine how he would treat you once you actually pay him. There are thousands on vacation rental websites for Rome, I advise everyone to look elsewhere!

Regards, Jennifer

Cheryl_Prothro

I, too, am relieved to hear that the RomanHomes proprietor is a NUT! I first emailed him inquiring about one of his properties. Our plans were to arrive in Rome on a Sunday and depart on the following Saturday making for a 6 night rental. Dr. Abate replied that rentals were only on a Saturday to Saturday basis, and that in case we thought of paying for the Saturday night (prior to our actual arrival of Sunday) that it would be impossible to check us in on Sunday because his staff deserved their day of rest.

I wasn't sure, but I felt as though I had offended him in some way. But with emails one is never sure of the sentiment behind the words. When a few days passed I decided to try once again and email RomanHomes to explain that our travel dates were firm as we had already purchased our airline tickets and asked if there was anything he could do for us. I guess I thought for a 6 night rental that he might make an acception regarding the check in day.

His reply is as follows:

"Hello, You should not ask others to do what you are not prepared to do yourself in the first place,
Regards,
Staff"

I rest my case.

How fortunate we were that we were arriving on a Sunday!!!!!

Cheryl

ParadiseLost

I loved the deleted original and followed it like a soap-opera junkie.

Neal Saunders gives a good overview of the original thread here http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-dr-abate.cfm

I did sent the original poster here from a Usenet NG to post for info about RomanHomes.
I posted a response under an alias (Daniel) because I always posted as Walter and typed-in my email address (pre-registration) because I was honestly worried about any fallout from some of the *supporters*.

I came clean a decade later when a regular Fodors *jean* thought she posted it but couldn't remember.

I also posted the URL from rec.travel.europe of the jean honestly looking info on RomanHomes in the thread. Regards, Walter

Worldtraveler1401

I am happy to see there is a thread about www.Romanhomes.com
Romanhomes is one of the many agencies I was looking at in Rome for my September Italy trip.

I asked one question about coming into the apartment one day earlier and the Dr Mauro or Morris he likes to American-ize his name, although he CLEARLY HATES Americans from his anti american rants. He went off on me writing how rude I was to ask to arrive a day earlier.

He then sent me other scathing emails when I inquired about other apartments he had listed and If I could rent them other dates. I was only asking if they were available.. I can not believe the owners of these apartments do not remove him as the apartment manager. He is one angry son of "%&*E" His emails are so condescending and rude. I would NEVER in a MILLION YEARS rent from Roman homes, www.Romanhomes.com.
I would love to post his email rants to me here but just trust my word. They were so rude. Go with another agency

Someone needs to contact these owners of the apartments and let them know to how with other agencies like Romaloft.com

This Mauro or Morris needs to get a reality check and the owners of those apartments need to know what is going on. I mean there are threads dedicated to this man.

Worldtraveler1401

"Dr Mauro" has been pretending to be Italian. Here is his bio

Mauro Abate was born and bred in post-WW2 multi-ethnic Libya from a very mixed family. After his exile in 1970 he lived in all parts of Italy (North, Centre and South), initially as a wandering Jew, an experience which left a mark, yet also very instructive.
He thus experienced different social ranks and conditions (refugee, unemployed, employee in privately owned companies, state employee, self-employed). A versatile person, he practised successfully different professions (including that of medical doctor). A free spirit with an international mindset, his main interest are international relations and ethnic conflicts, on which he does voluntary work.