My husband and I will be Rome (our second trip) for 5-6 nights next May and want to stay somewhere with cooking facilities, so I'm looking at both these places. I've seen some feedback on both in the forums and just want to see if there's anymore to be had. We stayed near the Pantheon last time, so the idea of being in a different neighborhood (Velabro) is appealing, but the American-style showers shown in the Olivia's bathrooms are a big draw for me. Also Olivia has a washing machine in the apartment, but no dryer so I'm unsure how useful that is. Any comments on the size & comfort of the rooms, as well as assistance of staff when necessary, would be greatly welcomed. Any other comments as well. Thanks.

We stayed for a week this June at Palazzo Olivia and loved it. Being too men with laundry that doesn't dry quickly (unlike many women's clothes) I thought the dryer might be an issue. But the apartments we rent in both Paris and London have washer/dryer combos which take hours and hours to dry and even then we need to lay things out to completely dry. At Palazzo Olivia the washer is quite small, but good. There is a folding dryer rack we then put everything on, and also a large standing floor fan we aimed at them and they were dry within a couple hours -- less than those dryers in Paris and London -- so we worried needlessly there.

There is a nice woman who is manager who is on duty in the ground floor office about half a day every day and she is very helpful. Stephano, the owner, lives in a "penthouse" at the top of the building and is available for "emergencies". We passed him frequently coming and going and he is exremely helpful and friendly.
I, like you like a shower that you can close a door to and shower away without flooding a bathroom -- and ours had good pressure. The rooms were comfortable, the bed, extremely so (pretty firm, which we like). And the place was spotlessly clean and well supplied.

We were also perfectly fine without air conditioning even thought the temperatures outside were pretty hot, unlike in Venice where our apartment was VERY hot without air conditioning. The building is old and has extremely thick walls, so it remains pretty cool, although the manager did say the top floor gets quite a bit hotter and they are thinking of attempting to put air conditioning in it. We were in Apt. Basillio.

By the way, for what it is worth, although we took a taxi, you can arrive by bus from Termini. Take the #64 and get off on Corso Vittorio across from the Cancellaria. You are literally at the corner of the little street Palazzo Olivia is on, and the apt. building (no name sign) is right around the corner. When you get on,tell the driver to let you know when you get to Cancellaria, and he will.

Thank you very much for the info, Patrick. The dryer rack would be helpful (I know what you mean about some dryers, having experienced one in Ireland) and a firm bed is fine with me.

Patrick could have not summed it up better.You will not be dissapointed with your potential choice of Palazzo Olivia.I had a wonderful experience there last year and plan on returing there in 2006. I would not consider any where else to stay in Rome but there.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to book Palazzo Olivia, at least not for a number of months (and then it may be too late). We're going on tickets obtained with US Air miles and if the airline goes out of business before our trip, we may not get there. Olivia requires a 30% of total cost deposit, which is non-refundable. I certainly understand that from their standpoint, but I can't put that much money at risk (unless I find adequate travel insurance).

Velabro has a two-week cancellation policy (I got answers to emails on the cancellation policies after I posted my question).

I had also asked Velabro if the kitchen had a stove or oven (as opposed to only a cooktop) and got a somewhat confusing answer which indicates that it might have a microwave but not a regular oven. I'm sure the confusion is language related.

So I'm looking for anyone that has stayed there to see what the kitchen consists of. Anyone out there?

Does the palazzo's policy requires cash only or can I use a credit card to pay for the apt.?

Right on their website they say they accept cash, Visa, or MasterCard. We paid with Visa.

There's a little confusion because there is a statement that "must be paid in cash", but that refers to the airport pickup service if you use it, not for the room.

Thanks Patrick, I just sent an e-mail to Carla enquiring about the prices for one bedroom apt. I choose the Basilio, I understand that you stayed in this apt. for a week..Can you please tell me about it? In the picture the apt. interior seems dark, perhaps is my PC..I need light and dont mind if it is sunny..
By the way, the prices went up from last year..It is now Euros 190, I plan to stay for 5 days..

Oops, I meant to say that I was inquiring about the availability (SP?)for the Basilio, not the prices..

Well, yes, to be honest the apartments are rather dark (which may also be part of the reason they remain cool without air conditioning. Although there are two windows in the living room, the street outside is narrow and there is an even taller building across the way, so no direct sun will enter the apartment. Living in Florida, I consider that a good thing, but you may not.

The bedroom is quite dark as the window actually looks out to a sort of courtyard and another apartment. We kept the draperies closed. But then I rarely open my plantation shutters in my bedroom at home. Guess I'm just not that concerned with light -- particularly in a bedroom.

I guess the darkness also didn't bother me because we didn't spend a lot of time in it during the day -- and at night, well, it would be dark anyway.

Hi, I'm back, still looking for someone that's stayed at the Velabro!

Ruth, if you type "Velabro" into the search box, you'll get some results.

This is one of the various threads that came out when I did it:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34413556

Thanks, Surlok, I had done that before I posted my message and was looking for more recent input. In particular, I'd like to know about the kitchen and none of the postings addressed that. Also, the dialogue in this thread about the "darkness" of Palazzo Olivia is interesting to me and I'd like to be able to get a similar dialogue about aspects of Velabro that I might not have thought of.

Ruth, since no one answered so far your questions regarding Palazzo al Velabro here on Fodors, I suggest you to have a look at what is posted about it at:

http://rome-hotels.tripadvisor.com/H...ome_Lazio.html

Thanks again, Surlok. I've seen that and I've posted a question on the "other" guide book forum as well. I guess I'll just wait until next year and post the question again hoping that someone will have stayed there in the interim and will notice my question.