This was the perfect apartment, in the perfect neighborhood, with the perfect host.

Carla made everything so easy for us from our first contact to the moment we left. As we were getting into Rome quite late she arranged for a drive to pick us up at Ciampino airport and take us to the apartment where she was waiting to show us the place and run us through everything. She even had some fruit and a cake she baked herself ready for us. Throughout our stay she was always ready to leap in and take care of any problems we might have - but the place is in such great condition that we had none.

The apartment itself is wonderful. It's spacious and warm and just terrific and seems bigger in real life than in the photos - so many other places are the opposite. It is in an old medieval neighborhood with twisty, cobble-stones alleyways, fascinating shops, a couple of great bars, and some amazing restaurants (Carla thoughtfully supplies a list of the best ones to guests). The apartment windows open onto one of the streets so you can let the sights and sounds in, or close the double paned windows and all is silent.

Trestavere is an amazing place to stay. It's on the "other" side of the river for most of the tourist attractions but still within walking distance of everything. In our time in Rome we never took a bus or metro, we just walked, to the Colosseum, to the Piazza Navona, to the Vatican. And then in the evenings we would come back to our neighborhood knowing we had a wide choice of great restaurants within minutes of our apartment.

If you are going to Rome - and you really should - then try to stay at Carla's apartment. We definitely plan on returning again. And soon.