Gianfranco's flat felt like staying in a hotel suite minus the maid service. The apartment was meticulously clean, beautifully designed and decorated, and super comfortable. There were TV's in the living room and master bedroom. The kitchen had everything we needed to prepare meals. There were two bathrooms and both had shower, toilet, sink, and even bidets. Gianfranco also provides Wifi and Netflix, though Wifi service was inconsistent to the point that we couldn't get through a whole Netflix movie without it starting and stopping 20+ times and I was not able to use my computer to book tickets or other online tasks. But other than that, this place was awesome!
The flat had a lot of extra things too. For example, there was a hair dryer, two very nice fans, and extra comforters and blankets. Also good to know is that the pull out couch in the living room was very comfortable for a pull-out couch and the beds in the bedroom were very nice. One thing the flat does not have that we wished it had is a clothes washer. We ended up washing clothes by hand and hanging them out to dry. On the bright side, this flat has great air conditioning that did an excellent job of removing the humidity so our clothes dried quickly. In fact, our favorite thing about this flat was the air conditioning. We visited Rome during a heat wave and it was absolutely miserable outside from 10 am - 6 pm every day. It was so nice to come back to an air conditioned place. In fact, my kids complained they were cold!
On top of being a great property, Gianfranco was the most gracious host we've had of all eight of our Air B&B stays during our month long vacation to Europe. He arranged for van pick up from the airport for us, met us at the flat even though we didn't arrive until almost 10:00 pm, was warm and welcoming and spent tons of time showing us around the flat and marking out places we wanted to visit on a map that he gave us. When we notified him that the WiFi kept going in and out, he arrived at the property in less than an hour to make sure the router was hooked up correctly.
Of interest is that the flat is located a nice 10 minute walk south of the Colosseum, straight up Via di S. Giovanni in Laterano. Half way between is Basilica de San Clemente, which turned out to be our favorite part of our visit to Rome. It is a "modern" church built in the 16th century over the top of an older church built in the 5th century, over the top of a Roman Temple of Mithras, built over the top of another ancient Roman structure that archeologists think might have been part of the Roman mint. Not only is the current church a beautiful place to visit with some outstanding paintings inside, but the ruins beneath the church are simply incredible and a great place to hang out on a super hot day.
If you exit the flat and go left down Via di S. Giovanni in Laterano instead of right, you will reach the nearest Metro station, a brief 8-10 minute walk. From there it is a 20 minute tube ride to the Vatican, and less for any of the other major Rome attractions.
One thing to note is that the listing for this property states that breakfast is provided; however, this is not accurate. No breakfast is provided. That said, when we pointed this out to Gianfranco, he was surprised and offered to go out and buy food for us and bring it back - what service! We declined, but it was a nice gesture. Just beware if you are booking this property and the listing still says "breakfast included," this part of the description is inaccurate.
Overall fantastic property. We would book here again in a heartbeat!