Giovanni's mother, Angela, made us feel very welcome. Even though her English is even less than my Italian (which is virtually zero), she made herself well understood with her expressive hand motions. Crazy lady - she was a lot of fun.
The room was not quite as well equipped as it showed in the photos - we couldn't find a microwave, for instance, and there were only a few plates. Providing you don't want to prepare much food it's fine.
The location was not in the best part of town, but was an interesting neighbourhood of "real" people, and was convenient to the railway station.