Hello,

We are planning a six days trip to Rome in February. We are looking for a studio rental in the Piazza Navona area.

I came across this website often mentioned by other people here : http://rentalinrome.com">rentalinrome.com

Is this a good agency to work with? I read a review for one of their apartments where the apartment was not very clean. Has someone rented from them in the recent past?

Our requirements are a studio apartment, in the Piazza Navona area. We would ideally want an apartment that has enough light and is clean. Our price range is 60-75 euros/night. I know our budget is low, but this is the off season and we were hoping to get something decent in this range.

A few apartments that look ok to me are :

http://www.rentalinrome.com/domuscam...amillaloft.htm

http://www.rentalinrome.com/navona6/...a6/navona6.htm

http://www.rentalinrome.com/capranic...capranicab.htm (though a little above our range)

http://www.rentalinrome.com/palladio...alladioapt.htm

http://www.rentalinrome.com/vicolo/v...olo/vicolo.htm
This apartment we really like, however are not sure about the bedroom. Can't make out if I have any windows and how low the ceiling is (my husband is 6'2).

Please let me know which apartment is the best value for money. Location, cleanliness and sticking to our budget are the three main criteria for us.

Please help me choose. Also please feel free to recommend any other website/agency where one could look for apartments within our price range.

I really appreciate the help that so many of you give here.

Thanks

I rented from them December of 2007 for 8 days. I was not happy at all with the service. There was no toilet paper, a broken window in DECEMBER, no fuel for the heater, mold growing in the bathroom, the linens for the bed did not seem to be clean, and we used their car service to and from the airport and they scammed us out of more money. They promise their people are English speaking but do not count on this. The lady that met us for the apartment did not know English at all. We were also told that our apartment was very very quiet but instead it was very very very noisy with a cafe right underneath us.

Once back in the states and even with all the complaints and I had photos to prove everything...we could not get anyone from the agency to contact us back. I still have the photos if you would like to see them.

Hi heartofthesouth,

I am so happy I did not go and book anything with them.

I really appreciate your feedback. Would you know of some other agencies which do low cost rentals and would fit our requirements?

Thanks a lot!

I have used www.sleepinitaly.com 5 times with great service, and the apartments have always been as described. The one thing is to really look at the map. Sometimes the description will say "a few steps" from somewhere and it's really a little further than a few steps.

They have a lot of apartments in the Piazza Navona area.

Thanks Susan. Unfortunately I have looked at sleepinitaly and they have nothing in our range.

Any other suggestions? A B&B, if an apartment is not a feasible option in our given range?

realrome.com is another good agency to work with in Rome. Their prices are very reasonable although I think you will have trouble finding anything near Piazza Navona in the price range you want.

I've been looking too, for a trip in April. On venere.com, prices in Rome are much higher than the Amalfi Coast for example, which is a part of my trip.

But not only higher prices, lower ratings from people who've stayed at these places, on Venere and on TripAdvisor.

It just seems Rome lodgings just cost more for more mediocre accommodations, as long as the location is central.

So that's the tradeoff, higher prices, more noise and sub-par accommodations in exchange for location, location, location.

I've found some B&Bs in the 60-80 euro range, but they're not near Navona. Rather they're closer to Campo de Fiori or further out, like Pantheon or Trevi.

You can look at bbplanet.it, where you can sort by area. They have apartments and B&Bs.

bookmarking

We stayed in the Campo di Fiero area last summer and loved it.It is still within easy walking distance to Piazza Navona and the Pantheon.The Trevi is farther away and the area is not nearly as nice as the Campo di Fiori area.We loved it there because of the market and the many little shops and restaurants.You would not be sorry if you stayed there.

Thank you all for your responses.

Vtttraveler thanks a lot, I have already written to realrome and hoping to get a positive answer from them.

Scrb could you please share the B&B options that you have found in the 60-80euro range in Campo de Fiori.

Letsgo do you think the apartment in which you stayed would be suitable to our requirements? Please share the link/rental agency for the apartment.

Thanks again for your help!

These are for 2 people or less. You have to enter the dates and wait for them to come back with offers. In many cases, they came with offers lower than the ones listed on the pages, but that probably depends on the dates:

http://en.bbplanet.it/bed-and-breakf...rome_s2130/en/

http://en.bbplanet.it/bed-and-breakf...ome_s14594/en/

http://en.bbplanet.it/apartment-camp...rome_s8344/en/

http://en.bbplanet.it/apartment-arge...ome_s12807/en/

http://en.bbplanet.it/apartment-camp...ome_s13852/en/

Hello

Scrb I really like some of the apartments mentioned by you.

Has anyone else here booked through bbplanet? I would really appreciate feedback on them, some of the apartments seem to be quite good.

This site has really been a blessing.

I meant this forum has really been a blessing!

hi sunlight,

we rented an apartment through www.italy-accom.com who were very easy to deal with and the apartment was lovely.

they are a bit pricier than you wanted but they have one apartment available for €94 per night in the piazza navona area called teh apartment orca. there was another for €100 too.

give the savings that you can make on food by having your own kitchen, this might be more economical than a B&B which is cheaper per night, but where you have to eat out all the time.

good luck,

regards, ann

We rented through www.romepower.com and were very happy with the service and the apartment. They have a lot of places to choose from.

Also, take a look at www.slowtrav.com they have lots of reviews etc.

I used bbplanet.it years ago for an apartment in Florence which was right on the Piazza Signoria, with a view of the clock tower.

The site isn't an agency so much as a listing site. One nice thing is that I think you can use credit cards or any of the lodgings there.

Many of the places have their own web sites as well but the smaller B&Bs or apartment agencies don't always have the ability to do credit card transactions for booking.

If you look at the places, there is a Users Feedback link. Some places don't have any feedback but others have some. Many of the feedback are from Italians so the site may be more for Italians.

Unfortunately, they don't have as many user reviews as Venere or Trip Advisor.

Main concern about being in the center is noise. I stayed at the Intercontinental on Via Sistina years ago and you'd hear cars on the cobble stones at all times during the night. Fortunately, it was a big hotel and they could switch me to a room in the back.

Do look at www.slowtrav.com, as jamikins suggests. There are many reviews of Rome apartments there, including how the owner/agency was to work with. And lots more information about traveling in Italy.

It's important to make the distinction between rental agencies and sites that are just an Internet classified ad listing. Rental agencies inspect their properties and are available to help you if something goes wrong. Their ongoing business requires satisfied customers. Sites where owners list their rentals know nothing about the rental itself and are more a convenience for the owner. VRBO does offer a kind of guarantee. But I'd rather have a nice vacation than an uncomfortable one and then have to go home and deal with claiming my money back.

However, renting directly from the owner is cheaper, and many have done so successfully as you will see on the Slow Travel site.

I rented from Sleep in Italy and loved our apt in Campo dei Fiori area. I posted a long review on slowtrav.com...check it out.

Hi all,

Thanks for all your replies. I think I have found a good apartment on vrbo.

http://www.vrbo.com/22504

All reviews say that it is small..however I wanted to know if this is a good location. It is a good price as well, and we would like to book it.

This is our first experience with renting an apartment, could you please suggest some of the things that I should ask the landlord before renting.

Thanks a lot

Personally that would be just too tiny for me. Double that size is still quite small.

Something to bear in mind is that it will be quite cold in Rome in February so you may not be out and about quite as much as in the warmer months.

I would go for something a bit bigger and while you will pay more you will save in having some meals, coffees and drinks in the apartment.

But only you can decide whether you can manage with that small a space.