Rome apartment recommendation needed
 

Hi all,

I have pretty much decided to rent an apartment for our trip to Italy next April. I've been to Rome several times, and was never that happy with the hotels even when it's expensive. So, I would like to go the apartment route for the first time!

I would love recommendations. Here's what I'm looking for:

1) In the Piazza Navona/Campo Die Fiore area.
2) Quiet for sleeping (e.g., a bedroom that's in the back)
3) Has a nice, big bed(queen or king, or the 2 twins pushed together)
4) Nice bathroom with a bath tub.
5) Stylish decor and furnishing would be a plus.

Price is not a major issue. I'm willing to pay up to 300 euros/nite since decent hotels seem exorbitant.

Help appreciated! Thanks in advance :)

Judy

PS: I've looked at slowtrav.com, as well as agency websites like sleepitaly, etc.

Here's one:

http://www.romanhomes.com/vacation_r...oman-roofs.htm

I was very pleased with the service from this agency (although we stayed in a different apt - no longer available).

Did you see anything good at slowtrav.com? They have the best apartment reviews, IMO.

We booked our apartment through the Rome Bed and Breakfast association. They have apartments and B&B's. Here is the link: http://www.b-b.rm.it/
Have a great trip!

We stayed at VRBO #21717, on the via dei Cappellari, about 2 blocks off the Campo dei Fiori.

Here is the review that I submitted to slow travel (It has not yet been published):

Our family of 5 spent six nights in the one bedroom apartment at Via dei Cappellari 60 in Rome, Italy (VRBO # 21717) in late May, 2006. We were unable to finalize our travel plans until March, so most of the air conditioned apartments were already booked. This one was available at a reasonable cost, so I grabbed it.

The flat is located about two blocks off the Campo dei Fiori, which is a terrific, very central location. No matter how late at night it was, we could always find a gelato shop open on the Campo.

The apartment has a large entry way, living room with sofa sleeper, kitchen, bathroom, and large bedroom with a queen sized bed and a single bed. I thought our family might feel cramped, but as we didn't spend a whole lot of time there, we had plenty of room. The furnishings are decent - nothing fancy but nothing awful. (The sofa sleeper should be replaced, however.) No English language stations on the TV. The bathroom has a shower only. There is a clothes line outside of the bathroom window that I made use of. The towels provided were huge. (Bring your own wash cloths if you need them.) Shower gel and tiny bars of soap are provided.

The kitchen was stocked with a mixed assortment of silverware, glasses, plates and bowls, but not really anough for five people to eat a full meal on. (It was okay, because we just used the kitchen for breakfast and snacks.) We appreciated the tea bags and sugar that were in the cupboard.

Clothes storage is in two large armoires in the bedroom. There wasn't quite enough drawer space and I was glad I brought some of my own hangers. There were two blow dryers in a desk drawer but I didn't try them out to see if they worked. I admit that I shyed away from charging our electronics here, as some of the small appliances in the flat even used adapters.

We were all in all very pleased with the flat and its location, but I will say that the method of payment was a pain and added quite a bit to the price. One can only tender a deposit on the flat by Western Union, which charges quite steep fees. Upon arrival, payment is due to the landlord in person, in cash (we had to delay our touring for over an hour while waiting for him to arrive). I was pretty understanding of all of this, thinking that maybe the owner just isn't familiar with Pay Pal or how to take credit cards....but once there, I found out that the man with who we had been dealing was merely the manager for an owner who lives in New Orleans. We could have saved quite a bit of money and effort if the owner would have accepted credit cards or Pay Pal. (Maybe that is why the flat was available.)

When we arrived, we couldn't figure out how to work the air conditioner. The manager said that the remote needed new batteries and that he would buy some. As it turned out, the weather became quite cool, so we are unable to confirm whether or how well the air conditioner works.

We had the hardest time finding any type of grocery store. We could get all the fresh produce we wanted in the Campo dei Fiori, but we had to search for milk and cereal. If you rent this apartment and need a grocery store, walk to the Corso Vittorio Emanuele and turn left (toward the Vatican) - the store is maybe 6 blocks down.

Over all, the flat was a good choice for our family.

Thanks!!

What do you all think about the following:

http://www.sleepinitaly.com/files/apt_volpe3.html -- love the bathtub under the sloping ceiling

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

http://www.sleepinitaly.com/files/apt_giuliaA.html -- I like the style of furnishing

http://www.sleepinitaly.com/files/ap...atoattico.html -- pretty terrace!

Judy

Wow! These are ALL great.

Nice furnishings, decor, layouts, and quiet/charming locations. I feel compelled to tell you first that you will love staying at any of the four.

Having said that, "giuliaA" is the jewel among jewels. The natural light, the space, the location.

ALSDO, it's located on a quiet, pedestrian street that doesn't even get much foot traffic

Accidentally posted too soon!

Just wanted to say it's on THE most charming street in Rome.

p.s. In addition to food shopping on Campo dei Fiori and the alimentari NW of the Campo, there is a shop on the western end of Via Giulia that sells killer artisan pastas, oil and wines.

We were also looking at the Guila A, when we noticed that's it on the fourth floor with no lift - that's the fifth floor American! Definitely too many steps for us on a several-times-a-day basis. Seems like a lot of the really nice-looking ones are on upper floors!

Are there only two in your party? If so, most lifts should be fine. Note, however, that many of the lifts in old buildings are VERY TINY. I walked up and down the steps every single time at our flat in Rome because the lift really was only big enough for two small people, and there were 5 of us.

DH and I rented an apartment from Sleep in Italy in March. It's called apartment Vicolo di S. Guiliano, and it was in a fantastic area. We were in one of the mazes of streets off of Piazza Navona, a short five minute walk away. There were tons of great restaurants and cafes nearby, mostly filled with locals as I saw very few tourists venturing off in the direction of our apartment.

The apartment itself is on the main floor, but its on an alley way, not a street, so its pretty quiet. The apartment is fairly spartan, which was fine for us because when we are in Rome we spend very little time in our room anyways. The bathroom was fairly small but adequate, and the bed was comfortable.

The price was 95 euro per night

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

Tracy

Sorry, you may want to disregard my post above. I didn't see that you wanted a bathtub when I first responded.

Tracy

We stayed at a tiny place on Via Giulia (which by the way is pronounced Julia if you don't speak Italian and you don't want a taxi driver to make fun of you :-) and it is a fantastic street. You can easily get a bus and there are some great hidden resturants off of Giulia and also headed up to the Campo De Fiori.

Judy,
If the stairs aren't an issue for you, I'd take via Giulia or Monserrato as my top 2 picks. Volpe looks great, too, and one floor lower.

I've always been a little less thrilled with the end of Campo dei Fiori that Giubbonari is on. But still a good location, just a shade less "nice" IMO.

Another recommendation for Via Guila-we stayed in a sleepinitaly apartment in a small piazza off the Via Giubbonari. I would not recommend staying in an apartment on the Via Giubornari itself--very busy pedestrian street that leads into the Campo. I think it would be fairly noisy at night unless the apartment was in a building with an internal courtyard. The Via Guila is lovely and less busy--lots of great palazzos.

Thanks, that's exactly the advice I was looking for from people who've been to the area, ie, which street is more desirable.

On the stairs... umm, I hadn't considered it a major criteria. All other things being equal, it would be better to be lower. But I doubt we'd be going up and down more than couple of times a day. Besides, I lived in a 4th floor walk up in college, so maybe this will make us feel young. Not that we should be too wimpy to climb a few stairs at 40! :)

Judy

Re stairs. We were on the 3rd floor with no elevator and it wasn't really an issue even though we tended to return to the apartment more because it was centrally located. The two ocaisions on which it was an issue was when we arrived and departed and we needed help with luggage.

Founds some others on Via Giulia:

http://www.romerents.com/apartment_R...iulia_int.6-12

http://www.accomodationsrome.com/apa...ail.asp?ID=357 - this one looks very nice and is on the 1st floor.

http://www.accomodationsrome.com/apa...ail.asp?ID=357 - again on the top floor...

So many to choose from....

I suggest that you check out the policies of different companies such as amounts of deposits, fees, refund and cancellation policies, so that you can narrow your choices based on which company you feel comfortable with. Also check slowtravel for reviews of the different companies. For instance Romerents charges a 30% deposit and if you pay with a credit card they charge you a 4% commission and it appears that utilities are not included in rentals under 3 weeks. If you cancel you lose the entire deposit.