Gianluca's apartment was nothing short of amazing! From the moment we arrived and he met us at the car (private transfer her organised for us) we felt right at home. Gianluca has thought of everything. He supplied us with a typed booklet on where to go, where to eat, how to get around, a map, and the best part discount cards to local restaurants he knows and loves. We loved them so much we kept going back in our 6 night stay. He was fantastic when meeting our 5 year old and she warmed to him straight away, he really helped us fall in love with Rome as we were comfortable from start to finish.

The quality of the host was only exceeded by the quality of the apartment. It is stunning, comfortable, modern and has everything you want and more. The bed is very comfortable, our daughter slept like a log on the sofa and the kitchen is perfect for all of our needs. The shower was great, high pressured and we never ran out of hot water... you know all the things you generally hate about not being at home! The building has a neat little elevator that was a godsend as no-one likes carting suitcases up 5 flights of stairs. Views from the balcony sees the top of St Peter's Basilica and the neighbours are all seniors and very quiet.

It is a 5 min walk to the Vatican (10min with kids), is not in the "touristy" part of town so the food on Via Delle Fornachi (main rd) is to die for. We ate breakfast before we left at the most beautiful little café at the front of the building and made sure we were back to eat at the local restaurants at night because the local restaurants are too good to pass up on, true, traditional Italian food, prices for locals without the tourist markup.

Taxi to the main sites, colosseum/trevi/pantheon etc will set you back 6-8 euro from here, which is amazingly cheap and worth it to not being crammed on a bus holding your wallet for dear life.
If you're more adventurous the walk in is 30-40min and worth doing too.

We could not have been happier with our stay at Gianluca's and are very much looking forward to staying here again when we return to Rome.