We booked our stay at Federico's place in Rome looking forward to having more space than a hotel in a comfortable and modern apartment. I read great reviews and thought it would be the perfect place for my mom and I to spend the holidays. Unfortunately, this listing has several flaws that made our choice regrettable:
1) Location: I thought being close to the main train station (Termini) would be a good thing (easier to get around, plenty of shops and restaurants) - boy was I wrong. The streets in this area are seriously dirty (tons of trash and random belongings sitting by dumpsters) and full of pickpockets. One of our suitcases got stolen in LITERALLY the two minutes in between getting out of the car service Federico had arranged for us from the airport, and entering the Airbnb. When we thought perhaps the driver still had it in his trunk, he drove all the way back only to insist that he had given us all 3 of our suitcases and told us that it made sense it was stolen so inexplicably quickly because this was a sketchy neighborhood. My mom had one of her suitcases behind her without a hand on it - rolled away by a thief in a matter of seconds.
2) Unclear Instructions / poor communication: We were given no clear instructions on what to do when we arrived to enter the apartment - send a text? Call? Get a key from a lockbox? Press a call button? No clue. Federico doesn't just have one Airbnb listing in Rome - according to his colleague who let us in the apartment, he apparently manages more than 30 throughout the city. No wonder his guests aren't given the attention they deserve.
3) Subpar cleaning service: We arrived to a bed that had a duvet cover with a wine stain (to be fair, when we requested it to be changed it was). We stayed for a week and never got an additional cleaning service throughout that time, and also had to ask for more towels because we were only given one large towel per person for 7 days.
TL;DR: Can't recommend this place at all. Do yourself a favor and either book an actual hotel or get as far away from this neighborhood (Termini area) as you can.