Unfortunately, our stay at Giancarlo’s made our trip in Rome a struggle. When we booked the apartment the description stated that there was a bus stop 50 meters from the apartment that would get you to the city center in about 25 minutes. To us, that felt like easy access to the city but that was not the case. The buses in Rome often don’t come at all and if they do, they aren’t on time. Most days, it took us at least 1.5 hours to get to the city via public transit. This was after careful planning and checking of bus times. There were days we walked about a mile or so to the metro because the bus never came and then had to take a metro that took us out of the way of our destination to then walk again. When we arrived in Rome we tried to get to the AirBNB apartment and it ended up being impossible via public transit because the bus never came. After waiting multiple times for the bus, we ended up walking over a mile with all our luggage on extremely narrow sidewalks on busy streets that were uphill.
While I understand Rome’s public transit isn’t Giancarlo’s fault, after talking to many people who live in Rome, it seems that it’s common for buses not to come or to come late. Therefore, I find the description of 25 minutes to the city center very misleading and it should be said that it’s not a good place to stay if trying to visit Rome’s city center or main tourist attractions. We stayed a week and experienced the public transit delays and no shows every day.
Giancarlo is very nice and was there to help with check in when we arrived. Due to the bus not coming and us having to walk, our check in was a bit delayed which he was very accommodating with. He actually lives next door to the apartment which is very convenient.
The apartment itself was clean and organized however the apartment building was not well kept. There were large stains on the carpets in the entrance and leading to the apartment. There were also dead bugs lying around on the carpet. After researching, it appears to have been an old long term stay hotel that has been converted to apartments. There is a makeshift sign with the apartment name over the old hotel name at the entrance. There was also construction going on nearby which at times made sleeping a challenge.
Just to clarify, Giancarlo was very nice and the apartment was clean and comfortable. For us, the difficulty with transporting to the city, the poor upkeep of the building/common areas, and the construction noise made it a very difficult stay.