Our host Andrea met us at the apartment (we'd communicated beforehand as to when we'd arrive) and he showed us around his very lovely apartment. It's right near the Coliseum and was very clean and comfortable for us and our 8-year-old daughter. When we asked for restaurant suggestions, he gave us several (all non-touristy, authentic, and affordable) and we tried them all - they were all superb! Many things we wanted to see were within walking distance of the apartment and the metro is just around the corner from the Coliseum, so everything else is very easy to get to. There were a number of travel books in the apartment so we could look up places to visit (although we'd done our homework beforehand) and Andrea had some good suggestions as well.