Shopinful

Franco,
We will be 3 couples traveling to Italy around three week in Sept. We plan to stay in Rome for about a week. Then off to southern Italy by Cosenza or Sicily. I have found a place in Rome and was wondering about the location. We have never been to Rome and want to see the sights. Fontana di Trevi is where the apartment is located. It is called the Sanderbeg Crystal. Are you familiar and do you feel this would be a good location for us? By the way, you are a fountain of information and I really appreciate it!!

franco

Shopinful, thank you for your nice words. Nevertheless, I must repeat my plea: PLEASE read before you ask. This PRECISE apartment has been discussed less than one week ago, on this very thread (the 11th and the 7th posting above yours). And your remark as to "staying near the sights" has been answered in the very last posting above yours... I simply cannot repeat the very same advice for every new poster, that's too much, I'm not a tape!!! So PLEASE read before posting.

Shopinful

Franco, I looked back in the post and I am guessing that this reply is the same place and area that I asked about. There are so many different questions of naps, kids, etc. that sometimes it gets confusing in searching. I looked on a map and could figure out exactly where this was not being familiar with Rome. I don't think it is near the other places that you said were your favorites.
Thanks

But your third find, on Piazza Scanderbeg, is quite certainly in THE single most pretty location of Rome. Yes, Trevi fountain is close by, but the narrow lanes around Piazza Scanderbeg don't get any of the (tens of thousands...) of tourists that gather only around the fountain, so exactly as Ann told you, you're going to find your way around. So if you don't have a car (no street parking anywhere nearby), this location is excellent, and above all, just stunningly beautiful.

samoca

Franco: I have just read through this whole thread, and I think you are performing just an amazing service for everyone. Your patience is astounding. I'm not asking at this point for location recommendations, but I have a recommendation for this thread title. Perhaps you could change the title to include: ONLY ABOUT LOCATIONS NOT SPECIFIC HOTELS OR APTS in big letters and then people will know up front. Or else put it in a post in big letters at the top of the thread. Just a suggestion from a newcomer here. But reading this and writing down your "bests" will certainly help me as I look through the agency websites. GRAZIE MILLE DI NOVO!

samoca

Well, apparently you can't edit your own posts here, but that should read "grazie mille di nuovo." I am a stickler for spelling in any language and esp. in Italian, which I am now studying here in Los Angeles. Che bella lingua!

franco

samoca, the problem about editing single postings is the same as for renaming a thread: it's not possible, unfortunately. But your idea is certainly good - just not practicable

Shopinful, you're right that this location is in another area than my other favourites, and yet, I love it, and recommend it wholeheartedly. Personally, I wouldn't stay there, since I usually have a car, and parking there is just impossible. But as I said, if you have no car, it's a great place. And our recent discussion was not just about the same area, it was really about that very apartment, Scanderbeg Crystal. That's the same apartment excited had found, and said s/he didn't overly like the decoration, hence Ann's response and so on. If you like the decoration, you'll be fine there!

franco

Oh sorry, I see that I didn't notice one more question - Marianna's! I could swear it wasn't there when I replied to Shopinful earlier... maybe another glitch of the new layout??? Anyway: yes, Via del Governo Vecchio is another great place to stay, and I wouldn't say it's too close to Campo dei Fiori - you would typically go by bus a few stops along Corso Vittorio Emanuele or Corso del Rinascimento instead of walking from Largo Argentina, so you wouldn't cross Campo dei Fiori at night. And in the morning, it's great to be relatively close to the Campo - the market there is very nice!

excited_confused

Thanks for the detailed replies, so franco & ann, do you both feel that the Scanderberg Crystal is a better location/apt than the Monte di Pieta apt? The Crispi apt is not available for our whole stay so now trying to decide between the two prior ones. Thank you so much for all your help & any other opinions are welcome.

franco

excited, you know that I prefer Piazza Scanderbeg. As I said earlier, I wouldn't rent on Piazza Monte di Pietà for the time being, due to its proximity to Campo dei Fiori.

Marianna

Franco, what do you know about the area of Via di Tor di Nona? It is off of Lungotevere Tor di Nona. It seems to be close to Piazza Navona but not as close as Via del Governo Vecchio. How do those areas compare? Thanks.

franco

The area or the Via itself? The area is of course fine, somewhat less elegant than Via del Governo Vecchio (which is one of the very classiest addresses in Rome), but very fine too, and you have the comfort of being near Lungotevere (the bus connections...).
Via di Tor di Nona itself, however, which I don't recall precisely, seems like being so close to Lungotevere, on my map, that I'm sure it gets pretty much street noise. Lungotevere is an urban racetrack.

sandykam

We will be staying at the Convent Fraterna Domus in August. It appears that this is centrally located east of the Vatican. Do you have any thoughts on this location?

franco

Well, I cannot confirm whether it is really east of the Vatican or not. But if so, this is definitely not "centrally located". Either centrally located, or east of the Vatican. And east of the Vatican is perhaps the worst choice you could make all over Rome. That's a boring, non-descript neighbourhood that could be anywhere between Bucharest and Bordeaux. You don't really feel like being in Rome there. It's far from everything, and you're losing hours every day just traveling forth and back. The only advantage is that Rome's probably best restaurant, Osteria dell'Angelo, is in that district... Sorry to have no better news for you!

Zerlina

Fraterna Domus is on Via Monte di Brianzo. "East of the Vatican" is one way to describe it, but it's in the historic center, north of Piazza Navona.

franco

Oh, so it's "east of the Vatican" as in "north of Cape Town"! Thank you, Zerlina... Via Monte di Brianzo gets more traffic noise than lanes of this size usually get since it's the only lane in the neighbourhood where traffic is allowed to pass through, public busses included; and the southern half also gets the noise from Lungotevere, pretty similar to what I said four postings above. But the neighbourhood is excellent, and so are traffic connections.

samoca

Dear Franco--Do you know Via Arco del Monte. I'm considering what looks like a very nice B&B/hotel on that street. I've looked at Google maps, but nothing tells me whether it's quiet or not. (I'm a light sleeper certo.) It's a great location for a first time visitor to Rome and the prices are almost suspiciously good for a single. The other B&B is in Trastevere on Via Ippolito Nievo, right where it becomes a rather large street apparently (takes over from Viale Trastevere perhaps). The description says it looks out onto a green area. Grazie mille!

sandykam

Thank you for the feedback on the location of Fraterna Domus! Looking forward to our first trip to Europe this summer.

franco

samoca, Via Ippolito Nievo is pretty far from the center... traffic connections are of course excellent (the tram on Viale Trastevere!), so it's not a question of losing time, but it won't be too pretty around there. (I don't know the precise street.)
Via Arco del Monte is certainly very quiet. But it's also very close to Campo dei Fiori. On the other hand, in a direction few people will likely walk. On which end of the lane is that B&B? You could probably avoid the infamous evening crowd if you avoid Via dei Giubbonari when coming home - heading directly from either Via Arenula or Lungotevere. That's just a guess... Zerlina?

dina4

hi franco,
what do you think of the area just north of Piazza Republica near the St. Regis Grand hotel?
Never really explored that area, so have no idea what it would be like to stay there.

thanks,
dina

franco

dina, tough question. Piazza della Repubblica is marking the edge of the Termini (rail station) area, of which it is still part itself. North of it, things grow instantly better - Via XX Settembre and north of it are forming an upscale neighbourhood mixed of governmental departments and elegant, tree-lined residential lanes. The St. Regis is obviously in between... but if you really mean: north of the St. Regis, then I assure you you'll be fine there. You know, of course, that distances in Rome are considerable, and that you're going to use busses extensively if you stay in that area... but if you know Rome already well, this could be a nice neighbourhood for a change.