Hello, My wife and I with 2 of our friends will be visiting rome in September. I wanted to know which apartment rental portal have you used and what was your experience with them. I am very worried about wiring ppl money overseas and don't want to do that. I have been searching apartments on www.rentalinrome.com and www.sleepinitaly.com.
please do tell me of others and your opinion. Thanks

monu58,
The best place to check out apartment rentals in Italy is Slow Trav http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/vr/reviews.asp

This is who I used and didnt get ripped off, all was good. Find my previous posts on this if you want more info.

http://www.romeby.com/pantheonapart/index.html

I've used both of these booking services: http://www.b-b.rm.it and http://www.romeby.com. I had good experiences with them. Both take credit cards. You don't have to wire money. And I believe that they only require you to pay a small deposit before arrival.

Stay away from sleepinitaly. I confirmed and re-confirmed with this company 5 months prior to our trip and they still manage to mess up my reservation. They are friendly but poor organization and planning with the apartment owners.

It's worth your time to check directly with the hotel/apartment, because their rates can be lower than going through an agency. You can search via the portals, then also go directly to the website of the apartment/hotel.
For example, I booked the Domus Julia through venere.com, then later found out they would have given me a 10 percent discount had I gone to them directly. Lesson learned.

We rented the same apartment twice with sleepinitaly and had no problems at all. They ask for your credit card details and take a small booking fee and you pay the balance in cash to the owner on your arrival. I found that the apartment we stayed in was cheaper with them than other agencies.

I rented with sleepinitaly.com in Rome this past March and had no problems. The agency was very helpful with booking and the owner met us at the apartment on time.

I also had no problems with sleepinitaly when i rented 2 years ago.

Renting apartments is always a gamble - as the renter you are subject to greater risks. We rented with sleepinitaly for our honeymoon in September 2003 and had no end of issues. We were the unlucky ones and since then, we only consider apartment rentals for longer periods of travel and with larger better equipped companies.

Hi,
I went to Rome last summenr and rented an apartment from romecityapartments.com. I highly recommend. The apartment was in a great location, clean and a good price, too.

Good morning monu58,

just to add another agency into the mix, we used www.homelidays.com, and it couldn't have gone easier. The apartment we rented didn't even require a deposit. We just paid in full once we arrived.

Happy travels!

I too rented from Sleepinitaly in March and had no problems whatsoever. They were fast and friendly to work with, and everything went as planned. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

Tracy

When I was making reservations for a trip to Italy this summer, I tried to get accommodations at Residenza Cellini in Rome and they were fully booked. (everything I have read about this place is excellent) They informed me of an apartment they had 5 minutes from the Spanish Steps but they were holding it for a family for 24 hrs. and they would get back to me if they didn't take it. Long story short--I ended up booking accom. at Hotel Smeraldo near the Campo D'Fiori just hrs. before I found out the apt. was available. I believe they have 2 apt. and you can check on tripadvisor.com for reviews and pictures. The apartment looks beautiful and I did e-mail a lady who stayed there with her family last year sometime and she said it was great! You can e-mail them at [email protected] for information.

You are visiting Rome in September of what year?

By the way, mada1978 owns the B&B she's recommending.

Hello Everyone!

A subject near and dear to my heart after our horrendous experience in Rome!

Happily, I see no one making comments about the apartment rental agency we used, and that's a GOOD thing as Martha would say!

I've used many of the companies listed on these postings, and then decided to check out another rental agency (just as a back up) for my clients. Yeah...I do the hard work so you don't have to!

If you'd like to read about what we now call the "Debacle in Rome", go to:
www.freewebs.com/mr2llman.

Regards,

Melodie