We are leaving for Rome on March 7th and second thinking our hotel reservation in favor of an apartment.. I have emailed sleepinitaly twice regarding an apartment that they say in available with no response.. I am asking a number of questions regarding who meets us, what if the accomodation is not ok as far as bed size.. my husband is 6' 4", does someone show us how to use th appliances ect.. prior to putting a credit card deposit down. So far no answer.. the response with the rate was within 48 hours.. but since then nothing..


What is the time difference between Az and Italy?? maybe I should call.. I have read mixed reviews for sleepinitaly but overall they seem positive. Are we making a mistake?

I also read the reviews on sleepinitaly and decided to forfeit my deposit and book another apartment from the owner directy. I don't want any unpleasant surprises especially when we are tired and jetlagged on arrival after a long flight.

I had a good experience with sleepinitaly.com and Giulia usually answered my questions right away.

However, I agree that if you are having issues this early on it might be better to book with someone else.

If you do want to try to call I believe you are 8 or hours behind Italy right now.

I too had a good experience working with Giulia last year. She responded to my questions rather quickly. However, I do agree that I would go with someone else if you aren't getting a response, as that would be quite aggravating.

Good luck!
Tracy

I think I am going to try one more email.. Has anyone heard of Mauro Sacchetta Calik of undergroundviaggi? I did get a response from them although for an apartment just around the corner from Piazza Navona..They offer extra services like use of a cell phone and airport transportation to and from airport if you stay longer than 5 nights.. which we are.

We used Sleepinitaly last summer and had no problems . I assume you know about the Slowtrav website with reviews of various Rome apartments - there are quite a few reviews of different UndergroundViaggi apartments - most good, a few bad.

Here's a link sorted in alphabetical order by agency - so scroll down towards bottom for UndergroundViaggi

http://tinyurl.com/y3l7um

I have no experience with the apartments but maybe the reply e-mails are getting blocked by your spam blocker. This has happened to me a few times. Try faxing or e-mailing from a different e-mail account.

I've rented an apartment with sleepinitaly for our February visit and I heard back from them relatively quickly. I even called them to first verify that they existed then did the rest by email. I recently had to revise our reservation and it took two days to get a response - but they did respond. You could try calling, too just to make sure that your email went through. I am now hoping that all goes well and we get the apartment that we actually reserved!

Here is what I posted previously on my experience with sleepinitaly.
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Author: Celiaanne
Date: 10/25/2006, 04:43 pm
Since you mention sleepinitaly.com specifically, I will repeat my experience with them.

I booked http://sleepinitaly.com/files/apt_rondanini.html in June for an October stay. A week before I was to leave, they bumped me to http://sleepinitaly.com/files/apt_soldati.html.

If you look at the 2 places (one is an apartment, one is a studio), I think you will understand why I will never do business with them again.

We refused the Soldati and ended up in a place I suspect was worse -- dirty, dark, etc. Certainly put a damper on my visit.


Author: Celiaanne
Date: 10/25/2006, 08:42 pm
Hi NeoPatrick,

I agree completely. Things happen (plumbing problems, etc.) and I understand this. However, this is not what happened in my case. The apartment was "overbooked," according to the agent. There was no emergency.

As I've also said before, I understand that mistakes happen. What I don't understand is why the renter is the one to pay for the mistake of the agency -- in our case by being given a "Quality" studio in place of a "Superior" apartment, with a 50 Euro "compensation."

I am not naive to think the Rondanini was all it was pictured to be, but I have no doubt it was MUCH better than the place we ended up in (yet another place).

So, while the Rome portion of our trip was much less than we had hoped for, the owner still has his apartment listed with this agency and the agency was only out 50 Euros...or maybe not even.
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I would NEVER take a chance with them again.

I rented from Mauro of Underground Viaggi in, was it 2003? I know at least one other poster here has rented from him (different apartment than I had but in the same building on via del Pellegrino). I found him reliable and easy to deal with. No surprises. These are not designer apartments, and it was a very old building. My friends and I loved it.

thank you all so much.. We have decided on Mauro and his apartment..

Well risab and cls2Paris you were right.. Giulia has emailed several times (since I put the email address in my contact list) and her emails are finally getting through.. she resent two that she had sent that disappeared somewhere in my computer.. I feel so much better..

You know, having those emails just disappearing is kinda like trying to explain something important to your mother in law and having her ignore you! lol You know you have to be patient but you want to smack someone..

Thanks again to you all