Rocco's apartment really is that close to the Pantheon. It is in a great central location within short walking distance to such attractions as Trevi Fountain (8-10 minutes), Piazza Navone (5-6 minutes), Spanish Steps, and many shops and restaurants. Here is a summary of our experience in Rocco's apartment and I hope it is helpful for others to better know what to expect when staying here.
Pros:
- the primary appeal of this apartment is its location. In fact, this is about the only attribute that I found to be better than average compared to other similar Airbnb's that we stayed in during our travels around Italy recently. If you want to be in a good central location, this apartment is hard to beat. And it literally does overlook the Pantheon. (this is a potential "con" too though, as it can be very loud in the apartment at night)
- Rocco really was good at communicating and was fast and timely to respond. He checked in multiple times to make sure that everything was ok during our stay.
Cons:
- WiFi is provided by a mobile hotspot that was spotty, inconsistent, slow, and not very reliable for anything other than messaging and things that require low bandwidth. If one person was on the WiFi network, then it worked fairly well. If more than one person was connected or using bandwidth, it could really get bogged down. We also had to constantly be resetting the mobile hotspot in the apartment to get it to work. If you are traveling with teenagers (I was) who expect faster than dial-up internet connection speeds and who are trying to keep in touch with friends and family back home, this can get frustrating. Probably not a deal-breaker, but just know what to expect.
- Bathroom: the bathroom is very small with a shower, toilet, sink and bidet crammed into the small space. If you are a large person, you may really struggle to use this toilet or this shower. It seems to be a very common type of bathroom for old buildings like this in Rome, but just know what to expect. You will be in a shower where you don't have much room to move and a toilet that is very difficult to utilize because of the cramped space. They both work fine and we were able to utilize the bathroom just fine - just expect a small space where maneuvering may be a challenge.
- Noise: the location is fantastic with a great view of the Pantheon from the window. But this brings its own set of challenges - Noise. There is a lot of crowd noise - opera singers (who sing beautifully), street performers, etc - on the plaza in front of the Pantheon. This noise is very noticeable at night. So it was a challenge at times to sleep with all of the noise coming from around the Pantheon.
- A/C: the air conditioning is a portable unit that helped to cool things off some in the apartment, but don't expect the apartment to be cool in the height of summertime temperatures. While we were there in early July, the Rome temperatures were routinely in the mid-to-upper 90s. The portable A/C unit helped to take the edge off the heat, but never really made the apartment cool. This is probably customary in many apartments in older building in Rome, but just know what to expect.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay at Rocco's apartment - primarily because of its central location to so many popular sights and attractions. The apartment itself was fine, adequate, and met our needs. Rocco was good to deal with and was very helpful.