Imagine you’ve arrived at a stranger’s apartment unexpectedly. The place is fairly messy, as if they weren’t expecting guests. There’s a bed waiting, but the guest bathroom is filled with the owner’s stuff, including a collection of empty shampoo bottles etc in the shower. I’m not even sure the bath towel was fresh.

The bedroom window faces onto a street with traffic. Close the window to cut down on the noise, and the room gets very hot and stuffy. (I stayed there in June.) There’s no AC, obviously, but neither is there a portable fan, which would help.

On the good side, it’s fairly close to the action in Trastevere without being in the thick of it. The 75 bus stops right nearby, which goes to Termini. And they had guide books on Rome to borrow.