PotenzaRon

We stayed in this apt last year for one week. The apt itself is fine. The owner's mother met us (she does not speak English) and gave us the lowdown. They were very generous in providing food (the best we've experienced in scads of apts rented in Italy).

However the location is not what it is purported to be. It would be a major walk to the Piazza Navona, etc. It is about a 30 minute walk to Santa Maria. The apt is located just above a small outdoor market featuring many foodstuffs and that is convenient...however they start setting up at about 5 am. We heard them each day.

The transportaion is convenient. About two blocks from the Trastevere train station and from catching the number 8 tram which speeds you into the historical center. Also buses are convenient there.

I believe we posted a review of this apt on Slow Travel so you may want to access it there.

In short, would we recommend renting this apt...probably not, we would opt for a more conveniently located apt where we could walk to more desired sites.

opaldog

Thanks for the input. We like the look of the apartment and having never been to Rome, we just want to be there and wander around. The sound of the market setting up won't bother me because I get up every morning at 5 a.m. anyway. I'm an early riser. I do my best thinking in the morning. I couldn't find your review on slowtrav, but I did look up many other postings about other apartments on via natale del grande and they spoke of the good location. I think it just may be a personal thing. Certainly I hope that we are happy with it. We're not going until May so I'll post after that. I'm still looking for a hotel/B&B to stay in after we get back from Paris for one night.

normanoromano

PotenzaRon must be referring to the opening post on this thread.
Via Natale del Grande runs 2 blocks from Piazza San Cosimato to Viale di Trastevere and is a delightful street in a delightful neighbourhood. It is a street full of local shops and services and a supermercado. It is thronged by the local Trasteverini every morning and late afternoon and is a perfect street to get the flavor and feel of Trastevere. If you are up early the noise would just be music. If I recall properly, it is more of a daytime than nighttime street with few if any restaurants with late tables outside.
I believe that the market at San Cosimato has reopened and the surrounding area abounds with good to great restaurants. And a very few minute walk to Santa Maria in Trastevere and twenty to Piazza Navona at a good pace. I miss it.
I'd do a search on this and the SlowTrav and maybe TripAdvisor boards about SleepinItaly. There have been issues raised from time to time about the stability of reservations.

PotenzaRon

Sorry, I should have been clearer. My comments were about the apt that is mentioned in the opening post on this thread.

opaldog

Thanks for all replies and updating the information on Natale del Grande. I decided against the first apartment because of the replies about the location and misrepresentation by the owner (of the location). I appreciate everyone's help. I am very happy to hear that Natale del Grande is such a nice street. I also read reviews about sleepinitaly on Slowtrav. There were some very positive ones and a couple of negative ones. I am willing to give them a shot and be prepared for the worst, but hope for the best. So far they have been very responsive by email. I hope that the service continues. I also put a deposit on a hotel for the last night when we return to Rome from Paris for our flight back to the US. We plan to stay 1 night at the Serendipity Residence. It's not far from the Termini. Normally I would not stay near a railroad station, but we arrive at 9:00 pm to Ciampino and leave the next day at 11:00 a.m. from the Termini for FCO. The Serendipity looked very clean and the reviews I read were favorable. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I can deal with anything for one night. We plan to check out the location before we head to Paris from Rome so that we will know exactly where to go when we arrive back to Rome at night.

opaldog

normanoromano - from your reply I see that you know the Trastevere and the street we will be staying on (via Natale del grande). We plan to take the train from the airport and will get off at the Trastevere station. How would you recommend getting to the apartment from the station? Walk?, Taxi?, Tram? I'm just not sure how far it would be.

normanoromano

Didn't really venture that far south to the train station. It would be I suppose at least a twenty minute walk. We never took the tram in the month we were there.
In Rome we often took cabs to and from Trastevere or between any other spot that we were in a hurry to reach or too tired to walk to. We had one map (Hallwag) that showed some taxi stand locations and one could figure the possibility at major sites and other obvious spots. It is said that taxi stands and phoning are the only way to get a cab in Rome but we often grabbed one in the back streets. It just didn't seem to be the done thing but it worked for us. Never paid more than 10 euros including our overtips.
All that said, we used LimoService Rome for our airport transfers (4 in all including booking for friends who arrived to share a week) and they gave impeccable door to door and even 4:30 AM service. I would consider them or other services mentioned in the many threads on this topic on this and other boards. Each has its own favorites and some that are highly recommended are cheaper than LimoService Rome.

opaldog

Thanks for the information. We will probably just take a taxi from the station as we haven't been to Rome before. It seems the easiest thing to do.

fmpden

We have stayed in the Hotel Contilia -- 3 Stars about two blocks south of the train station -- directly out of the side door. Very clean, decent breakfast. Also, across from a self service laundry. The area looks seedy, feels seedy, we didn't have any problems during the previous two times and we are returning this summer.

opaldog

The Hotel Contilia does look nice. We ended up booking one night with the Serendipity Residence a few block northeast of the train station. It got good reviews on tripadvisor. It is basic, but reviews were that it was very clean and friendly. Hope that is true. Has anyone heard of it?