Has anyone used RomeBy.com? Is this site reliable?

We have used it to book hotels for trips in 2003 and just this last September. I have found them to be very reliable. I also like the fact that there are a LOT of pictures on their website and they are truly representative of what you'll find when you get to the hotel.
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I really like all the photos they show of their hotels as well but why must they show that round madallion thing that says Italyby.com on each picture? It's very disconcerting [to me] and make it difficult to really zero in on the hotel photos.

More opinions?

I am sure the medallion is their trademark/copyright. They do that so that their photos can't be stolen.

Some friends used Romeby.com earlier this year to rent an apartment. They were very happy with both the apartment and the service and recommended them to me.

I have used one of their sister sites, something like Italyby.com and we were satisfied.

I haven't used Romeby but have used Parisby, Veniceby and Florenceby. I've had very positive experiences on all of these. Easy bookings and lots of choice.The pictures and hotel descriptions are accurate. Even when I don't book through them but directly with the hotel, I rely on the pics and info from their sites.

I love RomeBy.com (and all it's sister companies, VeniceBy, LondonBy, etc) But one thing bugs me - when you go to accommodations and look for the hotel photos, why don't they put them in alphabetical order? It's very frustrating trying to find a specific one.

I have booked through RomeBy.com, and the sister sites for Venice, Florence and Paris before.

No problems with any of the hotels/B&Bs.

I like the sites because of the numerous photos offered and that the rates are usually posted, rather than having to send an inquiry.

I'm curious about these sites too. Been looking at romeby, nycerome.com, as well as the usual expedia and hotel.com. my concern with the first two is since you do not prepay, are your reservations secured, and does the hotel honor the prices and room requests? I'd like to hear all experiances, good and bad. That would be really helpful. also opinions for these sites for florence and venice

The xxxby sites are about the best organized and easiest to use travel site around. They are great for pictures and information.

Of course, I would never actually book through them. What possible reason is there when I can contact the hotel directly? Middlemen are only anbother possible source of headache and confusion. Plus, in some cases, BY charges a nonrefundable fee on their bookings.

Used veniceby.com in the spring and were pleased with the b&b and all communications.

The owner did give us her card when we left and said to book directly by email next time, it would be cheaper, but we knew we were booking through a broker, so no surprise there.

(The b&b isn't listed in any books and had no webiste, so we only found it on veniceby anyway.)

Some places listed on RomeBy are listed on other Rome-based agency sites at lesser prices. It may be worthwhile to cross-check -- if price matters.

They do have very nice photos and I still dream of staying in their "Monserrato attico" -- which seems never to be available -- in via di Monserrato, near C. dei Fiori....

Thanks to all who shared their experience. Since I started this thread and based on what I learned and experienced myself, I came to the following conclusions:
-The xxxBy sites are legit (which is nice to know).
- Their rates are fair. The particular hotel I chose (finding its site required huge investigating job) quoted a higher rate than RomeBy.
- Since it is extremely difficult to find the main site to some of the listed hotels, you are forced to book through the xxxBy sites.
- I find it disturbing that they don't list a phone number.
- I feel uneasy to give my credit card number to any company that doesn't list an address or their phone number.
Therefore, I ended up booking directly with the hotel I chose.

When you book through them and they send you your voucher, their address and phone numbers are on the voucher you receive. I have NEVER had to pay a non-refundable payment anytime I have used any of the xxxxby sites.

From my experience they represent the hotels very accurately. And you will discover some nice hotels with them, they seem selective.

And in fact, yes, often you will get a competitive rate from one of the booking groups, as opposed to going to the hotel. Hotels always have discretionary pricing, so if you can speak to them in person, you may work out a price you like. But considering language barriers, etc, you may not. Also, The booking sites update very frequently, so will reflect recent "specials" etc, that the hotel might be offering to sell empty rooms. The hotels don't generally have someone to constantly update their website, so they post rates that represent what they expect to charge you. When you email a room request, you may get any price in return (In my experience). It will not ordinarily be less than the posted price.

"But considering language barriers, etc, you may not."

You can't ask BY for room 14 that has the nice balcony you've read about. And if you book through an agency, some hotels will give you one of their lousy rooms that they can't book by themselves and need to pay someone to help them book. This doesn't always happen, but it does sometime.