General feedback
Normally we book our Airbnb accommodation for a set time and then, obviously, stay for that time. However, for the first time that we can remember, we stayed at Ostia Lodge for only four of the seven nights booked*. It was our loss, of course, and we’ll make up for it another time, because this has been one comfortable, spacious and well-established apartment. It’s on the ground floor and there are four large rooms – bedroom, lounge (aka bedroom #2), bathroom and kitchen – linked to a wide central entrance foyer/hallway. The building is probably early 60s with high ceilings, windows in all the rooms (with insect screens and burglar bars), tiled floors and sufficient furniture to provide for your needs without crowding the place out. Well insulated, the apartment remained relatively cool throughout the day.
House fittings, utilities, towels, bed coverings and services all worked well. The place was clean and presentable. The bed was comfortable. We were two people.
Mid-August, reliable sunshine and Roman temperatures are regularly in the mid-30s degC, but we did not take advantage of the a/c available – too much of an artificial environment. We preferred to live within the regular sweep of a friendly fan during the evenings. We were out during the days.
At the front of the apartment there’s a private patio with surrounding 2 m walls/fences on three sides – the upper part of which has an artificial leaf netting that enables you to see out without anyone looking in. That supposes that there are people walking along the road outside of which there are few. Shade in the patio is provided by two citrus trees and an ombrellone.
The ‘Lodge’ is located close to the entrance of a short side road in a quiet part of Ostia Antica; there is little foot traffic and only a dozen or so vehicles belonging to local residents entering and leaving the road each day.
The description of facilities/services provided by Airbnb was accurate – well, apart from the ‘parking on the premises’ point. You park in the street outside. There is a driveway between the block of apartments housing the ‘Lodge’ and the adjacent building, in which you can unload your car. It provides access to a couple of garages at the rear of the building, so you can’t park there without obstructing access.
Parking can be a challenge. The road outside is narrow – little more than 2-2.5 car wide – but more than sufficient to provide on-street parking along one side up against the walls that line the road. You need to be dexterous when backing into/driving out from the short lines of parked cars. It was the ‘Ferragosto’ holiday period during our stay (the second half of August) and there may well be more traffic at other times of the summer.
Other challenges? Well, there’s always mosquitoes and (other flying/biting insects?) that feature in most Roman holidays. Ensure that you take all the usual precautions – of the chemical-kind, but also of the ventilatore-kind: sit/eat/sleep within the sweep of a fan.
The ’Lodge’ is hosted by Antonietta who was a reliable email contact. We never actually met her, but her team provided an excellent introduction to the place – Stefano (English) and Roberto (Italian). We had no cause to follow-up with the invitations/phone numbers pinned to the wall in the hallway, but we would sometimes bump into the one or the other and particularly in the early evening when venturing out.
Then there are the local facilities to explore. Ostia Antica is unique in suburban Rome – ancient scavi, medieval borgo/castle and 19th century ‘centro storico’ – with everything accessible on foot. There’s even access to the local Rome/Piramide-Ostia Lido suburban rail line with a station there, and €1.5/ticket/person/one way into Rome (and a ticket machine in the station foyer). There’s a local bus available or you can walk to the station – 20 minutes. You can live at the ‘Lodge’ without a car.
Local places to eat are also on-hand. The Taxi Pizzeria is just around the corner, the bar at the Residence is 100 m away – prima colazione in the garden under the shade of an ombrellone; in the evening explore their choice of gelati. The DOC supermarket is 15 minutes walking/carrying. On the way there you pass La Bussola Ristorante – the fish comes highly recommended.
Peter Steele
25 August 2022
*And the reason for this? We’d overlapped with our son and his family for their Airbnb place in Anguillara on Lago Bracciano, an hour from Rome. Access to a freshwater lake is a great attraction in the Roman summer. We had the best of both worlds.