apartments in Rome/ What neighborhood should I choose
 

I am searching for an apartment in Rome to house my family of 5. We will be staying there for 3 or 4 nights. Looking for a central location in a safe area. I learned about SleepinItaly..a website listing bed and breakfasts and apartments too. Has anyone utilized this site and had success with it? Any concerns? Finally..I want my kids to see the Vatican, St. Peter's Basillica, Colosseum, Forum, Borghese Gardens, Trevi Fountain (of course). Is there a location that is safe and close to those sites? I don't want to book an apartment away from everything. It is so hard knowing where to go. I would greatly appreciate help. Any areas I should definitely stay away from? Any suggestions when booking? Anyone ever stay in a convent? That was suggested too.
Very overwhelming trying to organize this.

We like to be close to Piazza Navona or in the Fiori District. It is safe and very centrally located and you can walk almost anywhere in Rome from there.

Slowtrav.com has good apartment listings and VRBO is also good.

When you're interested in an apartment, try to get its address. Not infrequently, leasers exaggerate the convenience of their apartment's location. Look up the address on a mapping website like Google Maps or www.mappy.com. Don't pick any location where you'll have to take the subway or a bus to get to your sites of interest. After a long bout of sightseeing, you'll want to go back to the apartment for a rest. It's a chore to get yourself back into the center again. 4 subway/bus trips take up a lot of your sightseeing time. And walking the streets of Rome is educational in itself.

We stayed in an apartment this June with two bedrooms and a wonderful terrace. Street was very lively but we closed windows at night so it was fine. we stayed in the pink apartment, kind of a splurge but we loved having the outdoor space.

Residenzagiubbonari.com

I especially loved this street, Via Giulia, in the same area--can't vouch for this apartment , but great location.

http://www.accomodationsrome.com/apa...ail.asp?ID=357

These are both located in the Campo de'Fiori area, my personal favorite.

sleepinitaly has some very nice accommodations. We are going to be staying here: http://www.sleepinitaly.com/en/show-...d_appartam=230

It's in Trastevere, which is just across the river from the Campo area, and although it will probably require a tram of bus ride to the center, it's only a few minutes and it's a very safe area.

Via Giulia (Julia in English) is also a lovely street, but the apt we rented from sleepinitaly was only a 1-bedroom.

Actually, there are very few areas in the central part of Rome that are not safe. Rome is much safer, especially at night, than many American cities.

For location, I like Navona. I was there with 3 friends in January and we stayed at this one:http://www.vrbo.com/194513
and liked it very much. There are two bathrooms which is very important! We walked non-stop everywhere with ease. Also, a plus for this apartment is that there is a bar that has breakfast right next door and 2 good restaurants can be found down the street beside it. If you get tired of dealing in Italian, there is an Irish bar on the same street walking away from the river.

In my husband and another couple and I stayed at a VRBO near the Trevi Fountain. We loved the apartment, but I did not like the location as well.

Darn...I have tried all specific places and they are booked....anymore suggestions?

Try putting your dates into sleepinitaly and see what comes up-there are many, many apartments in Rome, not just the ones mentioned above. Also check the recommendations on Slowtravel's Italy board.

Tripadvisor now has vacation rentals. You could put your dates in there and see what pops up. I notice the manager/agency is rated also. However the reviews are uniformly - and suspiciously - rave. I believe TA bought up or has a relationship with Homeaway/VRBO; on that site owners are allowed to block negative reviews.

Try this place with glowing reviews: http://www.vrbo.com/20263#)

that apartment Viajero2 mentions is on a very nice street. We were interested in one in that location last year, but after a couple of e-mails the owner never answered again, or would have stayed there. (That was not the one mentioned here!)