Looking for Rome apartment for 2 couples.
 

Hi-

I am in the very early stages of planning a week long trip to Rome for two couples. I'm having a hard time finding an apartment with two equally nice bedrooms.

In my initial searching I see a lot of apartments which "sleep 4" or more, but most have a pull out sofa bed and 1 bedroom. Of the apartments with 2 "bedrooms", some have loft type rooms with no privacy and others have tiny 2nd rooms with twin beds which cannot be pushed together.

So, here's my criteria:
2 private bedrooms, both preferably with double beds. Twin beds ok if they can be successfully pushed together.
Bathrooms-1 is ok, but 2 would be better.
Terrace or balcony-not a deal breaker, but would really like this
nice view if possible
Location-Open to all sections of Rome at this point
Price-around 200 euro a night, but will consider going higher for something really special.

So, any recommendations for a specific apartment? I've already looked at lots of sites and the sheer volume of apartments available is overwhelming.

Thanks!

check out apts that say sleep 4-6. In these situations, you will normally have a room w/ a large bed and the 2nd bedroom will have 2 twin beds...but it can work and they'll have a private room.

here's some examples.

http://www.sleepinitaly.com/files/apt_vicolocinque.html

http://www.sleepinitaly.com/files/apt_paradisobig.html

http://www.sleepinitaly.com/files/apt_paradiso.html

http://www.sleepinitaly.com/files/apt_bolloM.html

Have you checked Rome apartment reviews at http://www.slowtrav.com ?

Will-Yes, I have looked at the slowtrav review, thanks.

Sandi-Thanks for the links!
Out of those I like the first two the best. I will add those to my bookmarks!

I'm still hoping to find something with a terrace and/or a view as this is one of the "selling points" I promised my friends. You know, "wine and antipasti" on the terrace...
On the other hand, our trip will be in Spring next year, so it may be a little cold still for that.

Kristina, I didn't even go thru them all but you should. Also make note as to what floor they are on and if they have a lift. If it says 4th floor no lift then that's the 5th floor by US standards. Also watch the neighborhood it's located in and the "quality" rating of the apartment. I only checked the ones that said "superior".

Hi, Kristina - seems that when i was looking for 2 beds including a twin, i had the opposite problem - they were all doubles!

If you google eg "apartments in Rome" some of the sites like www.italy-accom.com will actually let you choose the number of bedrooms, which is a help. Otherwise, enter 5+ people, which usually will give you at least 2 bedrooms.

Generally, the higher-end agencies will be more liekly to have what you need. Or you may end up with a 3 bedroomed apartment to get the requried configuration. Useful if you have a falling out!

Good luck!

Thanks for all the advice and links.

I guess I'm going to have to search, search, search! Fortunately, I have time. I haven't even gone on this year's trip yet!

If anyone has stayed specific apartment they'd like to recommend, please post it here.

We stayed at an apartment we found through www.vrbo.com that we loved...The specific property is vrbo.com/32035. It is a two bedroom plus, two story apartment with a terrace and view of the Colosseum...walking distance from the Colosseum subway stop. It is on the top floor, but has a lift. Full kitchen, and little shops on the same street for everything you would need. Plenty of privacy. Price is 180 to 230 euros per night. The hosts, Pietro and Marina, were wonderful. Met us on arrival; and Pietro offers walking tours as well. We spent a full day with him walking ancient Rome that was a highlight of our trip. The apartment is as nice as it looks in the photos. I'm sure you can find many options on the vrbo site, as well. Feel free to e-mail me directly if you'd like more info. [email protected]

www.comfortitalia.com

We stayed in the Farnese I, and it was just wonderful. While it doesn't have a terrace, the windows/shutters open up onto Piazza Farnese. The location was fantastic--we walked to everything. Never got in a cab or bus or anything all week.

It is expensive 2400-2600 for the week. We were fortunate enough that Comfort Italia made a mistake and double-booked the smaller apartment we had reserved, so we got the big place cheaply.

The website says 2 bedrooms, but there really are 3. It's a very large apartment, and would be ideal for two couples traveling together.

Comfort Italia was a great company to work with. They arranged car service for us from the airport (we paid), and one of their representatives (English speaker) met us at the apartment when we arrived. I would definitely go with them again.
There's a great little shop/coffee place on the ground floor. Fantastic lattes.

Anna-The Comfort Italia place looks great, but it's out of our budget at 370 Euro per night. However, some of the other apartments might work.

Natalie-I really like that vrbo apartment. The view is fantastic! Is one of the bedrooms a loft? Is it in a room with a door that closes? How was the other bedroom?

Hi, Kristina - i like the look of the vrbo apartment too.

We stayed in this area [called Monti] last year and we really liked it. Lots of little shops, good local restaurants and good public transport links.

with a terrace as well, the price quoted looks a steal!

Good luck!

the vrbo apartment seems to be in the caelian neighborhood between Colisseum and the Lateran, which is very nice - dont think thats considered part of monti though. We had a very pleasant visit in that area on our last trip.

We have just finished booking a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom, basically what you described your needs to be, through www.rentalinrome.com. We are staying on Via Condotti not far from the Spanish Steps. We also looked at www.rome-accommodation.net, which also had very nice apartments but unfortunately the ones we were most interested in were booked.

Hi again re. the VRBO apartment: The main level has a fairly large living area, full kitchen, and dining area, one bedroom, and one bath (with a huge copper tub!). The bedroom has a full or queen size bed in it, and a very spacious loft-type bed. The apartment has an upstairs, reached by an iron spiral staircase (I think it's pictured on the website). Upstairs is a sitting room with a wall of windows and access to the terrace. The upstairs bedroom and a bath with shower are behind this area, with a partial divider. So, it is not completely enclosed from the sitting area/terrace, but it is upstairs. Just for reference, my husband and I stayed in the apartment while traveling with my mom, and we felt that we had plenty of space and privacy.

Our criteria was simply 2 bedrooms centrally located in Rome and we had a lot of your same frustration...the days of a sofa-sleeper being acceptable bedding are long gone! We ended up booking Apartment Carolina because it had two nice bedrooms with a location we love: piazza Mattei (turtle fountain). It is on the 5th floor (with lift) and also has two full baths PLUS two terraces; both bedrooms open onto one of the terraces. It is 300 euro per night but we were charmed and thought it well worth it. We were also able to arrange access a few hours earlier than typical check-in, which was very nice; easy people to do business with. I assume the twins in one bedroom could be moved together, but surely [email protected] could confirm this for you. Yes, there are a lot of nice choices out there at many price points all over the city, but I agree, most of them seem geared for one couple or a small family, not two couples.

Maureen-Thanks for the link to rentalinrome. They sure have a ton of apartments. Do you mind sharing exactly which one you selected?

Natalie-Thanks for clarifying the details on the vrbo apartment.

Cupid-do you have a link to the apartment you rented (even though it's out of my budget)?

(Grins) of course...it was a little out of ours, too, but as my mother put it, "I'll only be able to go once..." we found that by adjusting a few other things it all worked out fine.

http://www.italyspecialists.com/serv...roperty_id=158

sorry if I was supposed to shrink this link somehow. They have many other properties we would have also loved and were more within your stated budget but did not have availibilty for our timeframe.

2BR (one king one w/ two twins), 2BA:
http://www.romanhomes.com/vacation_r...botticelli.htm

And a more expensive 2BR, 2BA with a fantastic panoramic terrace:
http://www.romanhomes.com/vacation_r...oman-vista.htm

Most spacious 2BR, 2@BA of all, includes patio:
http://www.romanhomes.com/vacation_r...r/leonardo.htm

Hi, Kristina - out of interest, #i just looked at one of the Roman Homes apartments. It looks very good.

My only reservation would ethat they don't publish their rates - you need to send an enquiry before you get a quote. Personally, I prefer sites where you see the price up front - perhaps I'm just a naturally suspicious person!

good luck with your researches,

Ann

<<you need to send an enquiry before you get a quote.>>

Which is exactly what I did when I rented through them. They sent prices in an email the next day. Which is fine if you have an extra day to plan. I think it might be because they don't spend a lot of time updating the website.

Bardo and Ann-
I thought the same thing, I'm always irritated when I can't see rates and details up front. I dislike having to give out personal info when not necessary.
However, some of those apartments look very nice and I will probably email them for details since I have plenty of time.

Bardo-have you booked with them or stayed in any of their apartments?

Cupid-they have some other apartments in my range I might investigate, thanks!

If I see a price on a website I know whether it's worth or not to pursue it. When I don't, I assume that the owners are hiding something (like "let's see how much we can get this time, and if the people balk then we'll lower it). Sorry. I just don't deal with places that can't list prices up front. The only rental I ever checked on that didn't list their prices, seemed to be about double the cost of other similar properties. Since then I've sort of assumed that's probably going to be the case.

Neo-I have to say I agree with you on this one. I find it very suspicious when they don't list prices. It's not worth my time to check to see if it's in my price range if they can't take the time to post prices.
After looking at those apartments again, I'm really not that interested anyway :)
There are plenty of websites out there which detail prices up front.

By the way, I feel the same way about restaurants. I hate it when I go to a restaurant's own site and they list their menu but no prices. I'm not going to go if I don't know if their 12 oz. NY Strip Sirloin in $19 or $47! What do they have to hide? If they were "proud" of their prices or thought they wouldn't turn people off, then surely they would list them, so I suspect they are way overpriced if they want you to come not knowing what anything costs.

Neo-In general, I agree. However, I work in the restaurant business and we don't put prices on our online menus. This is because food prices can fluctuate wildly and we don't have the ability to update our websites every day like we do our menus (someone else does the design and maintenance). If you post prices, and then people come in and expect those exact menu items and prices and find something different then it's a problem.
However, our websites don't run the business, unlike the vacation apartment rental business which I would guess is almost exclusively run online. Plus, they don't have the prices fluctuate like we do. They can set them for a year and walk away.

What bugs me more in restaurants is when a server tells you the specials and then doesn't tell you the price. They force you to ask, which makes you look cheap. Most people are too uncomfortable to ask prices. But I get off on a tangent here. Let's focus on Rome apartments, shall we? :-)

It appears to be a moot point now but yes, I did book a lovely 1BR apartment on Via Giulia with them a few years ago. They were a pleasure to deal with, arranged a driver to meet us at the airport, and were waiting at the apt. when we got there.

Hi Kristina,
The apartment we have rented is through rentalinrome the Condotti Balcony Apartment found under the Spanish Steps. My husband use to live in Rome and says it doesn't get any more convenient than this, it isn't a fancy apartment but it will fit the bill. One that we gave alot of thought to was listed under Saint Peter called Mimosa which is absolutely beautiful however by staying there you are dependant on the train which stops running at 12:30 A.M. or the buses or taxi, nothing is really within walking distance. On the other site we looked at apartment 28, although it has only one bathroom which would be okay as we are only 3 travelling together but with 4 the 2 bathrooms would be nice.

I can sympathise with your planning dilemmas having spent more hours than I care to count researching Rome apartments recently. The loft bedrooms, bedrooms stuck in odd places, studios and sofa beds quite did me in at times. Although only looking for one bedroom we did look at some 2 bedroom apts and I did notice how few had 2 proper bedrooms and also just how small some apartments were - 50m2 and less. From my research I can say that you will likely not get what you want for 200euros per night - especially with a terrace or balcony or view. Nor will you get something really special for anything other than a LOT more than that. We are paying almost 170 euros for a 1 bedroom with a great (hopefully) terrace. Location is also what you pay for - centrally will be hard to do for anything like that price I think. Can I suggest you consider what areas of Rome you want to be in and take it from there - Campo de Fiori, Piazza Navona and Pantheon are all very central as is Spanish steps - but the latter can be very noisy and you tend to pay more. Vatican, Colisseum and Trastevere are slightly further away and while still walking distance from many of the sites, are further and after walking for 4 - 5 hours this may be a consideration. Slowtrav is a wonderful resource -as others have mentioned. We rented through www.realrome.com and the owner Tim Pearson has been very helpful. As we were not looking for 2 bedrooms I cannot recall whether any would suit. For us a central location, nice but not luxurious and a terrace clinched it - coupled with the responsiveness from the agency. Pay attention to the size - or ask - in my opinion anything under about 75m2 is on the small side for 2 so I'd be looking at 100m2 for 4 if you could.

Maureen-That apartment near St. Peter's really has a fantastic view! I'd be interested in hearing about the one you rented after you get back.

Eliza-Thanks for comiserating in my plight. I like the "Falco 3 bedroom" on the site you used. I also like the "Coronari 2 bedroom" and the "Silla 3 bedroom".

We are planning on staying at the following:

vrbo#34749 Historic 17th Palazzo Del Grillo Overlooking Imperial Forums

It doesn't have a terrace, but it does have 2 bedrooms and 2 baths.

Enzo Bartolomei, the owner, has been very easy to deal with. He uses either PayPal or wire transfers so it's easy to pay for the apartment.

Good luck hunting!

DC-I've seen that apartment and it looks great. Unfortunately, at 260 per night during Easter week (and most likely more in 2008) it's out of our budget.

We stayed at Falco 3 last September, review on SlowTrav.
The terrace is large and on the roof above the apartment and accessible via spiral staircase off the small porch next to living/dining area. The view is generally an internal view of the rooftops and courtyards of the surrounding and adjacent apartment blocks with a long view up to the Gianocolo Hill. Not spectacular but you know you are in Rome.
The apartment is not overly special but represents a good value and worked well for we two couples with the extra single bedroom providing a retreat and storage area.
The area was surprisingly convenient and very full of amenities. When the walk home seemed daunting cabs and public transport were easy solution. The area would be my third choice after say Navona zone and Trastevere (where we moved to for another three weeks.
Real bonus is dealing with RealRome and Tim Pearson.

Normano-Thanks for the details on the Falco 3 apartments (and the very detailed review on Slow Trav). You said you moved to the Trastavere area after that. Was that also a 2 bedroom apt and if so, can you share about that as well? I'm really interested in staying in Trastavere.

Nevermind. I just found the review you wrote on slowtrav for the trastavere apartment. It looks lovely, but not good for two couples.

bkm

I'm resurrecting this thread to vent about my frustrations in finding a suitable apartment.
I also have hopes that perhaps some new recommendations will surface. :-)

1. Rental agencies-horror stories abound. I can't find one without negative reviews. Sleepinitaly.com and Romecityapartments both have places which interest me, but I'm very wary given the negative reviews.

2. Holiday week frustration-I don't know why, but it seriously irritates me that there are low season, high season, and then "Holiday" week rates which are an additional 20-30% higher than "high season". In most cases, that additional amount puts the apartment out of our budget.
Question: Why do they charge extra over Easter?
Answer: Because they can. Grrrrr....

3.Websites which don't list prices (discussed above). I got an email from dolmusinternational this morning for two apartments which are completely out of my price range. Why can't they at least give a "general" idea of price on their website?

(Deep sigh) Ok, vent over.
Thank you for listening.

Kristina...

I found this website last year, but the apartment I wanted wasn't available. It's run by a couple in London so prices are given in GBP, but no problems with communication!

http://www.aplaceinrome.com/index.shtml

If you look at the Campidoglio apartment, it has 2 double bedrooms and a terrace. The Monte de Pieta apt also has 2 bedrooms.

Hope this is of some help.

Julia-
Thanks for the link. I've emiled them about another apartment they listed. The apartment you recommended probably wouldn't work for us as the 2nd bedroom is really the living room with sofa bed. But maybe the other one will work.

I've been looking at apartments by www.romanreference.com today. Anyone familiar with them?
I also had a disappointing email exchange with romecityapartments.com so I probably won't be using them (I can't be confident their apartments are as pictured or described).

Kristina, I'm curious why none of the suggestions have worked out so far? Is it all just negative reviews? Where are you reading the reviews? That VRBO Colliseum Apt, for example, looked pretty good.

Eleni-
The VRBO apartment is a bit out of our budget at 241 euro ($325) per night during Easter week. It's on my list, but not a first choice. So, it's not really that "none of the suggestions have worked out", I was more venting about the process and the lack of affordable choices during Easter for my specifications. I just didn't realize finding a two bedroom for 4 adults would be so much more complicated than a studio or one bedroom.

I sent out a whole slew of emails yesterday to VRBO apartments and various agencies (including sleepinitaly, comfortitalia, rentalinrome, etc). I did hear back from RealRome, but they said they wouldn't have March dates available until Sept/October and they have a minimum 7 night stay with an extra 40 euro per night during Easter week.
The other issue, I'll admit, is that I'm picky. If it were just me and my husband, it would be one thing, but I'm planning this trip for us and friends who have never been to Rome before and I want it to be special. As time goes by, I'll probably become less picky. However, I know I wouldn't want to sleep on a sofa bed in the living room, so I wouldn't ask my friends to do it either.

I know I'll find something eventually. That's why I've started so early. I just thought it would be easier. This isn't my first time renting an apartment, though it is the first time renting one in Rome during Holy Week. ;-)