Jean

Oops. Guess you need a more complete website address for convent lodging: www.santasusana.org/comingtoRome/convents/html.

Jean

Well, drat. Sorry. It still won't work. Try Googling "convent lodging in Rome."

copper675

Thanks very much for the helpful advice! Jean- I'll definitely look into those places you recommended. Apres- I will also wait to book until I've heard back from Mr. Pearson. One of my main concerns has been reliability of the accommodation, and you have added another good review to that company.

Thanks to all!

Bonjour_Voyageurs

Grant it, it was in 1999 but we rented an apt. near the Pantheon and it was the best decision. Having lived in that area in the 1970's, I knew that it was a central location. Tratevere is not centrally located and I would definitely heed the advice of others to check out www.tripadvisor.com and www.slowtravel.com

dawnnoelm

I wanted to add that yes, Tim replies VERY quickly to emails - I did not end up renting through him but he was fantastic in replies et.

Vttraveler

Another vote for Tim Pearson and realrome. I found him very prompt and reliable when we rented from him earlier this year. If he has something that interests you and your friends I would urge you to give him a little time to respond to your emails.

jamikins

Hi Copper, not sure if there is anything in your budget here, but we rented an apartment in central Rome (Moon Apartment) from Rome Power http://www.romepower.com/ and found them to be great to work with. They responded very timely, usually within 24 hours, and we had no problems at all. Everything was included in the price so no surprises.

Leely

Hi Copper, just wanted to add that the beehive link someone posted above is the same comany as cross-pollinate.com, from whom friends and I rented a basic Trastevere apartment from many moons ago. They are a longstanding, reputable, budget agency.

And having rented from realrome a couple of years ago, I also recommend them wholeheartedly. I would think it's just the holidays that's delaying a response. Which places are you considering?

copper675

Leely- I'm looking at the Cappellari Split Level apartments. There are only 3 of us, and the apartments look like they are in a great location and appear fairly clean. The price is on the high end of my range, but from the sterling recommendations, I think paying a little bit more might be worth it to save myself some headache!

Thanks to all for your wonderful help in this! I'm just going to wait another week before I make a decision to see if RealRome gets back to me.

Leely

My sister and I rented one of the Cappellari studios in May 2005, the one with austere little nun's beds. I am not sure if they're in the same building as the split-level or not, but everything was as appeared on the website. And even though we were right in the thick of things, we didn't find it too noisy at night to sleep.

However, a Trastevere apartment would work very well for your group, too.

Have fun! I'm hoping to get back to Italy this year myself.

normanoromano

Me too for RealRome and Tim.

Always prompt (first thing in his morning) but moreover the communication was notable for its frankness and truth telling about specific apartments, areas and any limitations with respect to your criteria. And always a sense of fun.

tomassocroccante

Didn't see any mention of romeby.com - check them out, many apartments and some in your range.
http://www.romeby.com/accommod/apartment_rome.htm

True, Trastevere is not in the center, but it's still central, and with a more "residential" feel for many people = something to be said for being out of the tourist loup. Depends on what kind of trip you're looking for, I guess. But I don't think 20-somethigns will find it too out of the way - and the neighbors will be "younger" in general.

You might want to check out this similar thread, in which the infamous Franco weighs in - more good tips there:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35095182

luismartin

During my hunt for an impressive loft in Rome for my next holiday I came across with this website wich had remarkably beatiful apartments:

www.romeloft.com