It was great to stay at Nicolo's place. It is in a very quiet neighborhood and far from touristy attractions enough that you can feel part of Rome. Having said that you are not far from tourist attractions. Very close to metro, less than 5 min walk. Vatican is 5-10 min via metro and 5 min by car. Spanish steps and other attractions are 15-20 mins by metro. At night, cab is very reasonable, anywhere from 13-20 euros depending on how far you are. Not being in the middle of touristy area, the pluses are as I mentioned above, you actually feel like you are part of Rome, price is a bargain for the quality and size of the apartment. The downside is you can't just walk out and expect to be near Spanish steps. However in my experience so far, clean touristy hotels tend to be overpriced and the average ones take things for granted and quality is compromised even for a comparable 3-4 star hotels. The only downside was the inside bathroom had small mold in the shower and once I told Nicolo about it, he took care of it right away.
About our host, Nicolo is very polite, pleasant and helpful. We were running late when we arrived to Rome and it was not an issue to late check in. He also gave very useful info about Rome from native standpoint and we were able to take advantage of it.
We had a really great experience renting Nicolo's place and if I am in Rome again, I would rent it again depending on the size of our party. This time we had 6 and it was big enough for us.