Our host, Raffaella, met us at nearly midnight on the day of our arrival to show us around the apartment. She was friendly and knowledgeable, spoke good English, and replied to every message we sent her within a few hours.
The apartment itself is on the top (5th) floor of a terraced building in a fantastic central location for many of Rome's attractions. There is a lift, but it is small (can fit two people standing about six inches apart) and slow, and really best for lifting heavy items, like suitcases, to the upper floors. We chose the staircase almost every time, but this was hard work in the heat!
It should be said that we visited in mid-July 2022 and it was hot: at least 35 degrees every day for the week we were there. This presented some issues that we wouldn't have faced if we'd gone during more temperate weather.
The apartment is set on two floors; the upper floor consists of the kitchen and the roof terrace and because the former was glazed on three sides it got very hot. There is air-con up there but it's an older machine and not highly effective unless you stand directly in front of it.
We thought we would use the roof terrace more, but it was just too hot, even late into the evening, and on the one occasion we did go out there, we were visited by an angry-looking hornet. Still, the terrace does offer lovely views across the city's rooftops and of the dome of St Peter's.
One of the main reasons we chose this apartment was the fact that it was advertised as having an oven. However, much to our disappointment this turned out to be a microwave oven. While we were able to work around this, it did feel misleading, and we did have to change our culinary plans because of it.
On the lower floor is the living room, bedroom, and bathroom. We liked the decor, and loved the cast-iron spiral staircase, although it proved a bit tricky to get up and down, and anyone with mobility issues should be wary as it's the only way to get between floors.The air-con worked better downstairs, but at night we were still faced with the choice of trying to sleep with the loud noise of the air-con, or putting it on 'Quiet' mode, which was quiet, but didn't cool the room down as effectively. And I must emphasise that the apartment does get incredibly hot in the kind of weather that we experienced.
The bed itself was a good size. The mattress is on the harder side, but we found it quite comfortable. We asked for extra pillows on the first night and there turned out to be spare ones underneath the bed. The bathroom is a little cramped and the shower temperature would not stay consistent, but otherwise it was fine.
Our only other complaints were that the towels provided were scratchy and smelled of mould / damp when they were wet. They were replaced half-way through our stay, but we had similar issues with the clean ones. And the Wi-Fi only really worked downstairs, which was irritating.
Overall, we would recommend this apartment (we would definitely recommend the host!) but if you're planning to go when the temperature is above 30 degrees then I would consider our experience and make up your own mind. Otherwise, it's a lovely little place and a great base for seeing all that the beautiful city of Rome has to offer.