We are a family of nine people aged 12-75 years who spent five days in Ghileys apartment in Rome.

Good things: We were greeted by Ghileys sister who was very friendly and spoke good English. She introduced us to the apartment and answered questions about restaurants and supermarkets etc. Ghily and her family live on the upper floors of the house and was normally only a phonecall away if we had issues or questions.

The apartment is very tastefully decorated with a lot of details and fine materials. The atrium was nice and spacious and covered with a large awning making it useful even when it rained. Our four teenage children aged 12 to 18 appreciated the very nice indoor pool next to the atrium. We had asked for heating of the pool in beforehand due to the time of year, October, and that made the water very pleasant.

Not so nice: The apartment is in the ground floor but as the house is situated on a sloping ground one side of the apartment is subterranean. This means that there are no windows to the outside except for the door to atrium and the exitdoor that leads to a small backyard. But more significantly the subterranean side of the apartment generates a moisture problem giving rise to mould on several of the walls. This was worst in the extra room in the basement that really smelled “cellarlike”. None of us tolerated the smell very well and we had to take turns sleeping in the basement. The problem might be less in the summer when the soil is drier but in October it was significant. Perhaps of the same reason the walls in the bed lofts were dirty looking, at least they could do with a painting if they should look like the pictures.

The apartment has officially bedspace for 10 people but it requires that everybody get up and go to bed at the same time. The only separate room is the extra room in the basement, four beds are effectively in the same room as the kitchen and four beds share a room with a bed loft. There are only two bathrooms and one with a door that could not close.

Regarding communication: I mailed four times and requested a photo of the extra room, the one that turned out to be in the basement, because it isn´t on the website. I never received an image or any response to this request. But in other questions Ghiley and her family responded fast and helpfully.

All things considered the apartment has nice features but suffer from a serious moist problem and it did not meet our expectations.