Recommendation #1 - When in Rome, you MUST stay in the Trastavere neighborhood.

Recommendation #2 - You must stay at Denis' place.

The Trastavere neighborhood is about a 20 minute bus ride from all of Rome's monuments and touristy spots. However, our favorite thing about Rome was the Trastavere neighborhood at night. All the locals go there. It's like a festival every night in the summer. Lots of good quality restaurants, plazas, and people out walking around and frequenting the cafes/bars all night long. This is within 5 minutes of Denis' place. Our typical day would of consist of monument hopping during the day, then we would walk around Trastavere in the evening, check out shops, watch shows in the plaza, eat AMAZING food, and then finally grab some gellato and watch an outdoor movie with about 300 locals in a nearby park. This was every night. Loved it.

Denis' place was terrific. It's on the top floor of the building overlooking most of Rome. We could see the Forum ruins and nearby churches. There's plenty of room to take a couple chairs on the balcony and enjoy a drink under the evening stars. I loved how comfortable the mattress at the apartment was, my wife and I slept very well. The apartment also had everything we needed in order to cook breakfast and make coffee. We didn't meet Denis but a neighbor showed us around the apartment and helped us with anything we needed. She even helped us successfully schedule an early morning taxi for our departure. She very helpful.

Overall, our expectations were exceeded with this place. Everything was super clean when we arrived, and my wife and I both agree that if we came back, we would stay in Trastevere and in this exact apartment.