Has anyone ever booked an apartment in Rome through vrbo.com?? If so can you please provide some feedback as to how your experience was.

I'll be traveling over to Rome in Feb. 08. There will be 2 adults and 2 kids (1 age 13, 1 age 9). I'm a little overwhelmed with all of the different places to choose from and have no idea which neighborhood would be best to stay in.

Thanks

VRBO is not an apartment-rental agency. As its name says, it is "Vacation Rentals By Owner". You deal with an individual owner, and individual owners obviously vary.

As far as neighborhoods are concerned, for first-time visitors anything in the areas Campo de Fiori, Pantheon and Navona is very convenient and within walking distance of many points of interest; Trastevere is across the river but, depending on the exact location, is also convenient and rents there tend to be somewhat lower than in the historical-center areas named above.

I am currently sitting on the terrace of the Trastevere Penthouse A from Angelis' Apartments. Not on VRBO, but these are owned an managed by a gentleman named Angeli. See my other posting title Anyone stayed here: Trastevere Penthouse A for details. I would highly recommend this company which would be similar to renting from VRBO. http://www.angelishouse.it/apartment...nt-in-rome.htm

Here's the link to the other thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35063388

WE used http://www.romanreference.com when we were in a similar situation, similar site to VRBO etc.

I use vrbo both to find rentals and to list a property I own...it is TOTALLY dependant on the individual owners...I have only had good results (have not rented anything in Rome though) - but I would certainly ask LOT of questions and feel comforatable with the owner. (and I usually look for people who take credit cards becasuse I do feel a sense of security that way if I were to show up and find the place vastly different than advertised!) That said, I feel that way about all vacation rentals really...it is not specific to vrbo.

I have used VRBO in the past. I have had a good experience and a pretty bad one. It just depends on the owner. Like another poster said...ask lots of questions.

We stayed in this 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment in Rome this summer:

http://www.rentalinrome.com/monserrato/monserrato.htm

It is located on a small piazza, close to Piazza Navona and Campo dei Fiori. A half block from a grocery store. Great location. It is right above Pierluigi restaurant which has really good food. We loved it.

Hi Granbury,

That looks like a great apt. Are the beds queen size like they describe? In the pictures they look smaller.

Being above the restaurant, did you experience any noise issues at night?

BTW, we have also eaten at Pierluigi and really like it.

Thanks!

Thank you all for your responses.

Geeper, thanks for the links I'll check them out. I'll also be sure to make a note to visit Pierluigi's for a meal or two

We just returned from a trip (I just posted on another thread on here) and loved the Flaminio Apartment rented by ItalyPerfect.com. Lisa (who runs that) did a great job and we got a great place. I highly recommend it. Check out my post this morning. If you search for "Rome Apartments" in the Europe thread you should see it. Good luck.

cruiseluv - the beds were the same size as any queen beds we slept in over in Europe. I remember that I also thought they looked small in the pictures. They were fine. My husband and I are not small people.

I thought there would be a noise factor being right above the restaurant but there was not. They have these patio umbrellas at each table outside and they seem to block the noise. There is absolutely no noise from inside the restaurant. We loved sitting on the window sill and watching the people coming to dinner. The apartment is owned by the owner of Pierluigi and so the staff treats you like family. We loved it.

JLE Boston - have a great trip and I hope you do stop by Pierluigi for a meal.