This place is magical. It's this impossibly beautiful pocket of the 15th century, yet well away from tourist traps. It is literally on the castle grounds, inside the pedestrianised walls of the historic borgo, but instead of tour groups and souvenir-hawkers there is a thriving and active local community. On our first night we picked up a late dinner at the food trucks of the Democratic Party's Festival of Unity. During our week-long stay there were two funerals and a wedding at the church next door, just outside the dining room windows. It's quiet otherwise, except for when the bells ring for mass. And even though it's outside of the city centre, it's within the bounds of the metro pass and the train station is only a short walk.
There's a supermarket across the street, several restaurants and pizzerias just a few steps away, and ancient Roman ruins next door.
The flat itself is as beautiful as the surroundings. There were five of us in all, which meant we needed to use the living room as a bedroom, but we enjoyed congregating around the huge wooden dining table for dinner or Scrabble, and everyone generally had enough privacy. Even the sofa bed was comfortable.
Federica went above and beyond to make sure we were happy, especially with booking cabs and getting our 9-year-old picky eater sorted. She was absolutely lovely! We're so grateful to her for making the stay so special.
We did visit in the middle of the Great European Heat Wave, and the a/c struggled a bit to keep up, but that's pretty normal for Rome in our experience. The property does have its quirks, with a bit of an awkward layout and fiddly electrics, but again, it is over 500 years old, so that's to be expected.
All in all, an unforgettable visit. If you get the chance to book this place, jump on it.