Location: The flat is located on the top floor of a well-kept old building, on a small side street close to Piazza Navona. The neighborhood is old and quite cute, with a wide range of good restaurants right down the cobblestone street; and the flat is within a VERY short walk to all kinds of bars and restaurants. There are also multiple pharmacies and supermarkets within a two minute walk from the flat, as well as a small gourmet grocery where we shopped for fancy olive oil and balsamic vinegar; the shop will ship your purchases to you so that you don’t have to carry them back in your luggage.
We were able to get cabs easily by walking less than two minutes away, and we found using taxis (and Ubers, when necessary) very reasonably priced, thanks to the flat’s central location. It was a lovely and quick walk to the river bank, beyond which is Castel Sant’Angelo and then on to St. Peter’s Square. Once you leave the front door, you’ll want to explore every direction from the flat, as there are so much in the area to discover.
The flat itself: The flat itself is charmingly old and nicely maintained; it was immaculate upon our arrival, and we thought it was quite well appointed. The heating/AC units took a moment to figure out for us, but once we did, we didn’t have any problems maintaining a comfortable temperature. One of the bedrooms is above Via Del Corallo, which can get a little bit loud with street noise, but as I always use white noise to sleep, I didn’t even notice it. And the back bedroom seemed completely insulated from any noise at all. We found the beds, bedding and towels adequate comfortable, and we rested well in the flat. The flat is also equipped with adequate Wifi speeds (we were able to stream video without any problem), and there are two bathrooms which are older but in good condition; the hot water always worked well, and we were satisfied with them. (As Americans who are taller (6’2”) and larger than the average Italian, we found the size of the showers to be a bit small, but that is a common occurrence for us, and it’s not a big deal.)
Communications with the host: From the very first interactions we had with Sylvia, we were impressed by not only how quickly she tended to respond, but how comprehensively she addressed any questions we had. (And we had tons of questions.) Sylvia is a tour guide, and it’s clear that she’s super knowledgeable and highly skilled at helping people have a wonderful time in Rome. She gave us excellent advice on where to go, what to do, how to avoid the long lines at various attractions, and how to navigate Italy’s Green Pass restrictions for COVID vaccinations and testing. She wasn’t able to meet us when we arrived, but her sister did, and she and her daughter were lovely and showed us around the flat, giving us a nice introduction to the area, as well.
Bottom line: whenever we choose to stay at an AirBNB, we always hope to stay in a place that is comfortable, reasonably priced, and managed by someone who is knowledgeable and helpful. We feel like this experience ticked off all those boxes for us, and we felt very well cared for by Sylvia during our entire trip. I honestly don’t have adjectives that are superlative enough to express our gratitude for all that she did to help guide us and make us feel welcome in the flat.