Has Anyone Rented This Apt.in Rome?
 

I am renting an apartment from www.sleepinitaly.com.It is the Via Della Minerva- Pantheon.Has anyone rented this and if so, how is it??
Thank you.

the link doesn't seem to be working.

The link is..www.sleepintaly.com

I saw the apartment, the location is great but being located in a popular area it may be quite noisy at night.

lets try again..www,sleepinitaly.com..

Too funny...

Neither one of the links is listed correctly, because of periods placed adjacently (in back, or in front)...

It's one reason that I use - - like this - - hyphens separated by spaces, so as to not "touch" any URL.

The website is www.sleepinitaly.com

Best wishes,

Rex

Even more hilarity - - your &quot;correction&quot; was a goof also, kismet... foiled by a <i>comma</i> after &quot;www&quot;

LOL!

And I believe this is the actual apartment link: http://www.sleepinitaly.com/files/apt_minerva.html

If so, I've never stayed in the apartment but it looks lovely and it appears to be in a great area. I love the area around the Pantheon. You will be close to Piazza Navona and Campo di Fiori.

Tracy

Rex,

Even MORE hilarity on YOU as Kismet's second correction worked for me. Nice Try!!!

I don't think any of this really matters, as the poster was asking for comments about the apartment.

Tracy

I've never stayed here but the location is good and the apartment looks quite nice.

From the pictures taken at night, I might guess that the apt doesn't get much light in the daytime -- I also like small balconies/terraces. If light is important to you, I'd ask the owner to comment on how dark the apt is.

Thanks everyone. I guess i just dont know how it links properly!
I have stayed in the Piazza Navona area before, but thought i would change it up a bit. I have never rented from Sleep In Italy but have read decent reviews about this company.
I booked this over 8 months ago but have never been able to find reviews about this paticular apartment. I will be there in a few weeks and will let everyone know.At least it looks good!

Just an update to say this indeed was a fabulous apartment. I cannot believe the price in comparision to the location and charm of this well hidden gem. The Pantheon( the side of it) was literly right in our face when windows and shutters were opened. This was to good to be true!!

hmmm. I missed this thread first time around. My only comment would have been &quot;slip covers are nice but sheets thrown over furniture makes me wonder what they're covering&quot;. So -- what were they covering? Was there a reason for taking the pictures with the sheets on the furniture? And tell me about the shower -- enclosed? Separate from tub?

Looks great. And I too like the Pantheon area where I rented from Sleepinitaly this summer. This must be a new apt. as I sure didn't see it when I was looking nearly a year ago.

Thanks for reporting back.

I am sure when they took the pic they should have taken the sheets off. She has slip covers because the couches underneath are white. We meet the owner who let us in. She is a clean freak so to speak and keeps everything so clean, thus the sheets i am assuming.The shower is enclosed, more spacious than some i have been in in Italy before. There is a separate tub which is quite large. Size of apt. is bigger than pics even really show. Master bedroom was such a nice size i could not believe it.Location, location, location!!

Really sounds and look nice. Meets all my &quot;picky&quot; requirements -- separate shower, air conditioning, not more than one flight up. Goes to the top of MY list.

Ivitaly - I have to ask about the noise level at night. I have made what I now know to be mistakes about the hotels I've chosen in the past. It's thrilling to have a room right on the piazza where the action is but I've also realized that I do not get any sleep with voices echoing and trash trucks emptying bins etc.

How was the noise level at night?

I am looking for an apartment for a weeks rental. Seconding Sandi, How is the noise level ?? And is there any reduction in price for booking a week. It looks like a beautiful, peaceful place. Thanks..

No street noise in the bedroom.It is completly away from the street and noise of the Pantheon Square. We always had the bedroom window open and at times can hear a little faint noise from the Tavola Calda next door but that seemed to be mostly in the morning.
What amazes me is this is technically even closer than Albergo Del Senato and that costs a fortune!!

I was talking to my husband about this apt and he mentioned that when we were there last he recalls a lot of teenagers sleeping and hanging around that side of the Pantheon. Maybe there's a hostel around there. Did you have any sense that it was unsafe at night, specifically around the apt?

Non what so ever.You are right, teens do hang out there after school and some at night.Mostly noticed they were eating and chatting there. Never gave it a thought to feel unsafe.This did not bother us one bit and quit honestly if there not hanging out on that side the rest of them are all around of the fountain.

thank you so much for the information.

Sad to say that the apt is not available during the time we wish to stay. The search continues....

How unfortunate!!!!

lvitaly, thank you so much for sharing your wonderful apartment. I would probably have passed on it even though it sounded so nice, simply because it looked so dark. Obviously the pictures do not do it justice.

Sheets on the furniture ... if I didn't know better, I would think that my mother took those pictures :-)) It is now bookmarked for a future trip to Rome.

Thanks again,

Nina

Your welcome Nina.I felt i was taking a chance on this because last time i stayed at Palazzo Olivia but prices for that Apt.had gone up and i just thought i would try Sleep In Italy as a booking agent because of positive reviews of this company i had read about.I liked the location of this apt. but was a bit nervous as to how it would be considering the price seemed so resonable.In fact its gone up $10 E. because i payed $130E. per night. So i was so surprised when i got there at how nice and clean it was and the location and size was just unbelievabe, it felt as if it was to good to be true!

Well, I've contacted Giulia at SleepinItaly and I'm looking at booking this apartment in June -- it is available, and yes it is now 140 euro per night for two people by the week.

lvitaly, I'm another former Palazzo Olivia person, but their prices are now about double what we paid three (or was it four?) years ago. And there is no AC there!

Oh Patrick you changed your name a little. I remember you!!!
Yes, i thought their prices were getting out of control, maby due to popularity, not so sure? I really wanted to go with Palazzo Olivia but like i said, given the positive feedback from Sleep In Italy and finding their prices to be reasonable allowed me the rational to take the chance.
I was scared going into this and i hate to take chances that can make or break a vacation, especially not wanting to be dissapointed in Rome of all places.But this far exceeded my expectaions of what this apartment has to offer.I may have some pics, If you want.My camera and other belongs in a small tote bag were inadvertantly left in the Atlanta Airport( so lucky it was turned in!!) and now at the local post office that i am picking up today.

I guess that particular apartment only rents by the week because I also contacted Giulia asking if its available for 3-4 days in June and she said its not available. So NeoPatrick, I guess you changed your mind about going back to Europe next year. Good for you!!

I know that I said this past summer was probably our &quot;last hurrah&quot; with my partner with Alzheimer's, but he continues to do OK. And he's the one already talking about travel next summer -- so here we go -- we hope! Just booked our FF tickets. A month stopover in NYC, then 1 week each in Rome, Siena, Venice, Paris, 2 nights in Verona for the opera, and 10 days in London. Mid May to late July.

And yes, I think that apartment is only by the week as many of the SleepinItaly ones are.

I guess they changed their policy then because we rented for 4 nights, my parents had one apt. for three nights in Rome near Piazza Navona and also had some relatives there in another apt. near the Trevi Fountain for three nights all with Sleep In Italy.Interesting.

Actually some of their apartments do rent for less than a week -- I think it depends on the individual owner. It seems a little odd as they price them all by the night, but many of them do require 7 night minimum, even though they don't tell you that on the individual listings.

Interesting.If you do book you will not be dissapointed.You, being a former renter of Palazzo Olivia tells me you will be more than happy at this apt. Good Luck.

Hate to be a crepe hanger, but just a word of caution about sleepinitaly.com. I reserved and received a voucher for their Rondanini apartment in June for rental in October. One week before our departure, I received a &quot;urgent&quot; message that we had been changed from the Rondanini to the Soldati.

If you check out these two apartments, you will see why I issue this caution. We did NOT get what we agreed to (took yet another, and I think worse, apartment -- not the Soldati), and I would never do business with sleepinitaly.com again.

Your experience was unfortuate,my guess is the owner canceled this, not the company. Overall, more people have had good experiences with Sleep In Italy than not.I hope they compensated you for your inconvienence.

Ivitaly, Thanks for your input. While I realize that the agencies are often at the mercy of the owners, I don't understand why they would continue to list this apartment if the owners can't be relied on to meet their commitments.

As far as compensation goes, they offered us 50 Euro off the total price for the rental and offered us a lower-rated (according to their own ratings) STUDIO with no A/C, on the ground floor, etc., etc. (NOT an apartment as we had agreed to rent). If you take a look at the 2 apartments, I am sure you will see what I mean.

We ended up in a dark, dirty, 1.5 bedroom &quot;place&quot; -- basically a studio with a half bedroom attached, with no where to sit, except two wooden chairs. It was awful.

I agree and undertand that mistakes happen, etc., but what I don't agree with is that the renter should pay the consequences -- not the owner by having the apartment removed by the agency nor the agency by putting us in a better, not lesser, place. This is definitely what happened in my case.

I do agree with you wholeheartly that they should have absolutly put you in a better, not less of a quality apt. Otherwise, compensate you to your satisfaction financially.Unfortunatly, I know disruptions of this nature can certainly change the exitement or mood of one's vacation. For me, taking the chance of booking this without any feedback i could never seem to read about,( and i booked this almost 9 months in advanced)imagine my surprise for the price of it and the location not to mention how lovley it is inside, i felt so fortunate considering i took a stab in the dark so to speak.
Hopefully next time for you, it will be a more positive experience.

That's particularly interesting about the Rondanini apt, which is the one I rented in June. I had voiced my concerns with Guilia of Sleepinitaly about switching people, and he assured me that would not be a problem with that particular apartment as the owner had a special arrangement with them and rarely if ever uses the place herself. I also mentioned that I saw it still available on another website after I had reserved it, but again he assured me that there was no way they would switch me from that particular apartment. They didn't. I'm really sorry for your problem -- and I understand it is not that uncommon for this company (like many others) to switch people last minute.

Patrick-FYI, if you do decide to rent this apt. i do not think you will encounter this paticular problem of switching you at the last minute due to possibly the owner wanting to use it instead etc.I was let in by the owner herself, and found out that she lives in Rome. I got the impression this is her income so she needs it rented as much as possible. Also, when you recieve your confirmation from Sleep In italy, her phone will be listed so you can call and verify when the time gets closer.Her english is limited but she can understand some.

Thanks for the reassurance.

Incidentally, when I contacted Guilia about the Minerva apt., I mentioned renting the Rondanini one in June and he &quot;welcomed&quot; me back. He also mentioned that he believed I had recommended the apartment to others -- which I have and several Fodorites have reserved it since. I sort of winced, since my recommendations have included the warnings about the sewer gas smell, so I'm sure he is aware that those concerns came from me. I think it actually adds leverage to our success with SleepinItaly when they know that many people are in contact -- whether they know it is through Fodor's or other means. I have already mentioned that it was &quot;through a poster on Fodor's who recently stayed there that I found the Minerva apt.&quot; I think, keeping a company advised of this type of &quot;networking&quot; will slow them down from doing much switching.

I have reserved the Rondanini for March '07. And yes, I am one of &quot;those&quot; who questioned Giulia regarding the sewer smell in the Rondanini after reading Patrick's comments. I have also read all the comments on slowtrav regarding the apartment switching in not just this apartment but others as well with this agency.

I will say that all my emails back and forth to Giulia have been very professional and very quickly answered. I have no reason to doubt them at this point.

And Patrick, I'm so happy you and Lee are able to plan another trip.