If you don't mind walking up three flights of stairs (and we certainly didn't, because it gave us even MORE of an excuse to eat all that delicious Bolognese food), this is a perfect apartment.

Clean, centrally located, all the amenities you need, and a very helpful and genuinely friendly host who is fun to talk to and right next door if there are any emergencies (there weren't).

Elena is rightfully proud of her city, and has excellent recommendations for places to visit and places to eat: every tip of hers we acted on turned out to be a winner!

Elena's tips included the nearby supermarket, the affordable take-out food from the cooking school around the corner, the Saturday farmers market, a good gelato shop, numerous restaurants with great food reasonably priced (including where to go for lunch when walking the famous 666-portico trail up the hill to the Sanctuary of San Luca). When we took a day trip to Ferrara, Elena even had recommendations for THAT city (a bakery and a chocolate shop).

When special events came up in Bologna during the ten days we were there, Elena was quick to send us emails giving us the details, such as Night of the Museums (free entrances), Mille Miglia (a car show), and a film in English ("Grace of Monaco").

Elena made us feel like friends and neighbors, instead of tourists.

Maybe we SHOULDN'T let you people know how great Elena is, because then YOU will be staying in the apartment when we come back to Bologna and want to stay there ourselves. Oh well, we'll take the risk.