I like the Campo Dei Fiori area very much. Convenient to all the sights. The only caveat is that I would not want a room directly on Campo dei Fiori. The area is a big hang out for teenage kids at night and it can be quite noisy. Trastevere is nice as well and just a little father from most sights.

Campo de' Fiori is better located. It also has a daily market.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/4201116801/in/set-72157622915079327

A terrace is not worth paying for in February. If it is warm enough to sit outside (and it will not be for breakfast), you want to be in a Roman piazza, not the equivalent of an American private backyard.

What would be important to me in addition to Wi fi and washing machine

Enough bathrooms to get out in the morning.

Enough privacy so that my husband and I could stay up later than the 11 year old.

Enough comfortable beds -- no pullout sofas unless you all are really ok with that.

No cafes or restaurants under my windows. NO BARS TOO CLOSE -- (which can a big problem in both Campo dei Fiore if you get too close to the campo -- it's a binge drinking sport for British and American students. You need to be careful on some Trastevere streets as well.

Generally I look for back-facing apartments on pedestrianized streets.

Do you have any links to apartments you like? I think anywhere in the centro storico will work for you, so look for comfort and affordability. Most Romans live with utlitarian interior decor. The art is public. The life of Rome is public. Look for someplace comfy for sleep and breakfast. You can walk and tram everywhere.

Both neighborhoods will have cafe/market/neighborhood restaurants you are looking for. For me, Trastevere is not close to the sights of Rome you may want to see -- Piazza Navona, Pantheon, etc. but an area filled with up and coming restaurants. Campo di Fiore has a great market as well as restaurants and wine bars, too.

Have you considered staying near the Pantheon? It's centrally located, lots of cafés (remember the one from Roman Holiday ), neighborhood restaurants and walking to many of the sights of Rome. We had a great apartment in that area but no washer and dryer or I would recommend it. Views of the piazza della rotunda and the parthenon, too.

This was suggested to us as first timers to Rome and I understood why after visiting. The location and everything near you was very convenient for walking.

This is the wonderful apartment we stayed in a few years ago for our first visit to Rome. When we go back to Rome next year we hope to stay there again.

Very secure, small washing machine, very easy to walk anywhere, minutes from Campo market and others. Restaurants nearby.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentalReview-g187791-d1490924-Very_very_central_free_WIFI_cell-Rome_Lazio.html

One reason we also chose this apartment is because we were a little anxious being on our own in Rome, having never been there. Natalia and Walter both speak perfect English, are only a phone call away and were extremely helpful. When we arrived they had a driver pick us up at the airport, and then he took us to pick up our rental car when we left.

If you check on owner profile you'll see they have additional properties.

And I don't really need to say much more, there are plenty of reviews. We did like this area, very convenient to everything but Galleria Borghese.

Here are a few that are on my list (and wrenwood, I had sent an inquiry this morning to the same place! Just waiting to hear back):

http://www.flipkey.com/rome-condo-rentals/p439500/
http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/rome/180464
http://www.jeweloftrastevere.net./index.htm
http://www.romeloft.com/462-bologna-luxury-apartment/

As for pricing it seems that people are willing to negociate a 10 day cost at a small discount.
Anyone have any experience with any of these or something nearby?

macswim, I would much prefer the location of the apartment recommended by wrenwood - I think that for a first visit it is closer to the things that you will want to see. we loved the position of the apartment that we were in last time, which is very close to this one.

but it's a close run thing.

We love Trastevere, but that said, for your first trip to Rome I would go along with most all the others and say stay in the Campo Dei Fiori area.

well, actually i would prefer the Pantheon or Piazza Navona, or the area around the via coronari, to the Campo dei Fiori, but you get the idea.

If you have tracked down reviews for the apartments #1 and #4 you posted, I think they look quite nice. I was less taken with the other two --- perhaps because I saw no reviews.

Wrenwood's apartment is also nice.

I seem to recall that you are spending 10 days in Rome in February, yes? No matter where you stay in Rome, for 10 days, with an 11 year old, you will need to use public transportation or taxis if you are taking a swing at the famous sights of Rome.

All your apartments are sufficiently well located that you should pick for what is well-reviewed and makes you happy with your choice. Almost off-topic, I don't think it is good policy to be advised: "I adore that neighborhood, but for you? A newbie should go elsewhere."

No. I don't think so. An adorable Rome neighborhood is just as important to a family's experience of Rome and today's world as the Vatican or the art museum or the Forum. Part of this experience of Rome for your family will probably be living as a family in a different country that does things differently.

If you can tick off the boxes of clean, safe, well-reviewed, wi-fi, affordable, whatever -- don't feel a need to plop yourselves in sightseeing-central-for-newbies. You'll be fine in Trastevere. You'll fine in a Roman neighborhood other than Trastevere. If you look at pictures and read reviews and can see your family being happy in that space (fingers crossed), Rome will do the rest.

(PS: If your daughter has any spirit, she will not spend 10 days in Rome in February walking everywhere! She will enjoy mastering the trams and buses (and you will too to save your legs). Just about anywhere you pick in commercial-rental Rome will only occasionally require a welcome assist from getting on a bus or tram to avoid family mutiny. But since you will be mastering the in-town tram and metro system anyway, don't over-value what's advertised as a "walk-to-everywhere" location. Over 10 days, you may be less interested in walking to St Peter's every day than the 3 days in Rome tourist, and you might appreciate the local feel of a slightly off kilter area, less on a slipstream to the "sights."

But the main thing is: Zero in on what looks like the right space for the macswims, and carefully read as many reviews as you can.

I am realizing some of my dilemmas reading this through, and you all have saved me $$ on therapy!
I have lived in 3 different countries for a year at a time at different stages of my life, Scotland, Kenya and Korea, and I have travelled extensively. Though we have travelled as a family a lot, my family unit is more of a "tourist". My desired experience is to live as the "locals" do, and I have to figure out a way to balance local/tourist out with making my family happy. That is why I have been in my apartment vortex I think. Trastevere is what I have heard is where the locals live and that is where I am drawn. But I want this trip to be great for all of us so I am listening to what you all have to say because unfortunately many of the places don't have reveiws or one can tell that the reviews might be a little selective (if you know what I mean). So thank you all for guiding me through this!

Just a follow up if anyone is interested. I must have looked at 200 places and ended up in Navona, in what looks like a very simple but unique flat.

I tried booking several others including wrenwood's suggestion, but they wanted me to pay in cash (-a deposit by paypal), which would mean carrying around more then $2000 in cash to pay. Although it seems to be common, my instincts screamed Not Right, what would happen if something went wrong, there would be no record of payment and therefore no recourse.

Anyway, I will report on my place once I am back and now can start getting excited about future adventures!

Thank you all for your advice.

well done macswim - in the end you have to make a decision that's right for you and then get on with it.

Care to post a link to the apartment?

the deposit via paypal plus cash on arrival is quite normal for Italy, but it does take a bit of a leap of faith. whenever we have done this, we've been given a receipt, both for the payment and for any breakages deposit.

http://www.vrbo.com/449757

It is definately different from everything else I saw. Very sparse but something appealed to me (though my family is very skeptical)!

Have you noticed that there are no windows? The location is good though.

Presumably it's the same owner who has this 1st floor apartment...

http://www.homeaway.co.uk/p104889vb

Peter

macswim - it doesn't look THAT sparse and i like the ceramic touches.

and as Tarquin says, a great position. we stayed in an apartment just round the corner from there and we loved it. so central and you can literally buy anything you could think of from the shops and businesses in the area - from a loaf of bread to a full suit of medieval armour.

just at the bottom of the via panico is a vey nice little cafe where you can have a perfectly acceptable breakfast and a very reasonable price, and there are loads of nice restaurants between the apartment and the Piazza Navona, as well as the slightly more up market via coronari.

honestly, you can't go wrong.

I did notice there aren't windows, but that was after I booked it.
And I did not see the other apartment, perhaps it isn't available for our dates!
But thanks for the feed back about the location, it sounds just like my cup of tea!
Thanks!

just bookmarking in the chance we decide to stay in ROme

Just an update on where we stayed http://www.vrbo.com/449757. Could not have been a better location for first timers in Rome. Having a place for 10 days was ideal!

This turned out to only be a one bedroom, not two as advertised Though there are two seperate rooms, one large with two beds (or a couch) and the other with a bed/couch but is in the same room as the kitchen. It turned out fine but the whole exercise of looking for two bedrooms went to waste. My understanding is that the truth is often stretched with the Italian landlords, but I only had pictures to go on since we were one of the firsts to stay, so I fell for it.

I would definately stay in or near that area again, and even in that flat.