Apartment for one week in Rome
 

Looking for an apartment in Rome for a week in late September 2026. Needs to be walkable to some of the central sites like the Pantheon (within a mile or so). 2-3 bedrooms for 4 adults. Not too much street noise at night. Any recommendations based on experience? Thanks.

This past May we stayed at Floralia Homes, just off Campo di Fiori in the historic center. We walked everywhere, there are also lots of cafes and restaurants in the area. We had a 2 bedroom/2bathroom apartment, but Floralia has larger apartments too. You can email the manager Christina for a quote.

[email protected]https://www.floraliahomes.com/

In November 2023 we stayed a week at an Airbnb about 5-7mins away from Piazza Navona, again 2 bedrooms/2bathrooms. A quiet street with two good restaurants, minutes away from the main sites. This was Navona Boutique Apartment 34, hosted by Agata. For some reason I am not able to post the link!

I would recommend both locations, we would happily go back.

A couple of years ago, stayed at Monte Giordano Flats on the street of the same name, west of Piazza Navona, in a 2-bedroom/2-bath apartment that was very nice. The two bathrooms had just been renovated (in fact, they were literally finishing up when we arrived). Great location.

In the past, I have used sleepinitaly.com many times, always had a good experience. I don't think they have as many choices as they had in the past, but you could check it out. You can sort by area.

Thank you SusanP.

Thank you, SusanP.

geetika, thank you!
I liked their 3br apartment, have contacted Floralia, and have already received a reply (even though it’s Sunday). I see that it is significantly less expensive if you pay cash (in this case about €4200) but I’m hesitant to walk around with that amount. I’d have to convert $ to € in the US before leaving or make many trips to an ATM once getting to Italy. (We’ll be in another location for a week prior to Rome.)

How did you deal with having so much cash? (Or did you book through PayPal which I never use?)

It's going to be much cheaper to get the money from an ATM in Italy. Just wear a money belt under your clothes to carry it, even divide it up so one person is not carrying all of it.

However, the US equivalent of 4200 Euro is over $4900! Very expensive, at least in my world. I would think you could do better than $700 per night! Although maybe splitting it between four people, you think it's not so bad.
Let your bank know that you will be taking out a large amount every day leading up to your stay in Rome.

I second Floralia - we were two families, the larger family had the upstairs apartment with a great rooftop; we had the smaller 2 bedroom. Although very central it wasn't noisy at all. Both were reasonable cost wise.

Why is it "much" cheaper in cash?

The bank fees don't add up to that much so that means they're likely dodging the tax. It may also mean the rental isn't legal. Assuming it actually exists

A lot of apartments in Rome only accept cash, don't even have a credit card option.

This May we paid around €250/night for the 2bedroom apartment at Floralia, this included the tourist tax also. In cash, like several of our transfers and tour guides have wanted over the years in Europe.

If you can only accept cash you don't offer a discount for it. The fact the OP is facing two prices. One discounted for cash shows the host isn't cash only

I'll also point out it's not legal in Italy to not accept cards. Nor is it legal to charge extra for cards

You're right, if they're giving a discount for cash, they take cards, but they're probably offering the discount for cash because they don't have to pay the credit card fee. If that is not legal, apparently they are getting away with it.
I didn't know it was illegal to only accept cash. That is surprising to me, since I have rented an apartment in Rome many times and had to pay in cash every time.

That's an EU law, not just Italy. It applies to businesses or "merchants". It might not apply to an individual owner doing occasional rental, but that Floralia is clearly a company.

Almost all my apartment rentals were through Sleep in Italy, so they weren't places only occasionally rented (I stayed in one of them on three different trips). It's surprising to me that all the owners were doing something illegal on a site like Sleep in Italy. If so, the authorities are pretty lax about that law!

Nobody complains nobody knows. Many of these places are counting on tourists not knowing the law or they can complain

I heard about Floralia on this forum, recommended by many Fodorites, though I don’t remember if anyone mentioned the cash payment. Floralia is booked well in advance and it was only this year that I was able to get a booking. And like multiple times in the past in Europe they wanted to be paid in cash.

Many tour operators, guides, taxi transfers, etc have asked for cash, I kind of take it as a given in Europe. If it’s against the law in the EU, surely at some point the tax authorities would have known about it, especially since some of these are bigger companies? IMO they’re also complicit.

Taking cash within limits is legal. Refusing cards isn't.

I go back to the point most of these companies are counting on people not complaining. It's like anything else. If people don't report it to the police the police don't know. How would they? Are they supposed to run undercover sting operations and see if their card is refused?

And people aren't complaining about having to pay cash because they don't know it's illegal!

In the end, I decided to book us a suite with balcony and kitchen facilities at Hotel Smeraldo. The cost is about €530/night but this includes breakfast as well. Reviews were very good, location is good, and payment isn’t due until we arrive. Our friends booked one of their larger rooms but will share our kitchen when needed. (We mostly will dine out. Especially for dinner.)

This has been an interesting thread! Thanks to all!

Carol