We arrived in Rome, a city we just don't know, mid-afternoon and managed to arrange a shuttle from the airport right to the door of Simona e Fabio's apartment building. Located on a quiet side street in a very nice neighbourhood (near Villa Paganini), we were fortunate enough to have Simona come outside without even having called. She had an appointment to make, but asked us to go in and her mother would show us our loft.
We took "Old Guy" (the 100 year old elevator) up to the top and were led out onto a very nice, quiet rooftop terrace. Across the terrace was our loft, a small but very functional room with private bathroom. A bed area and a kitchen area, it easily served our needs and would have been comfortable if we were forced to stay in if, for example, it had rained, which it didn't (weather was excellent in early April).
We spent 3 nights in the space and it was a pleasure to return to after walking around Rome for several full days. The neighbourhood has some nice features, including Villa Tortonia and some very decent restaurants and coffee bars, etc.
Access to downtown is easily solved with several major bus routes available on the nearby major streets. If you’re the walking type, like we are, one could even walk downtown, although it’s about a 45 mins to an hour walk to get to Villa Borghese, for example. Rome is an excellent walking city, however. Factor in some navigational issues and it’s an adventure around every corner!

Simona and Fabio (we met them both) were super nice and helpful when called upon. We would gladly stay there another time.