Our host, Andrea, made us feel welcome from the very beginning. He had agreed to meet us at the airport and to help us with our rental car, since it was our first time driving in Italy. In spite of some difficulties in finding the car's location, Andrea persevered until we were finally all set, and all with a positive attitude. This, in spite of the fact that it was a little after midnight! Then he drove ahead of us to make sure we were settled at the apartment location with no difficulties.

Our room was very spacious and had a nice feel to it. It has two large windows which were open to the night air. It was our introduction to Italy, and my wife and I both loved it. Next to our room was the large common kitchen which was very well equipped. All the other people there seemed to get on well; the house atmosphere was good.

The location is only about a ten minute walk from a central part of the city. We enjoyed going to a pedestrian mall there, sitting at a cafe, and sipping coffee.

We stayed at Andrea's place a second time just before we flew home from Italy. Our experience was also positive the second time and, once again, our host went "the extra mile", literally, in helping us to get to the airport with our rental car. We had gotten lost several times during our week in Italy and so we asked his help in getting to the airport. If we sound a bit like helpless tourists, yes, we were :) But our host was patient with us and helped us through our difficulties. Our two stays with Andrea were good "bookends" for our Italy trip: in between were our five days near Le Cinque Terre, which was a fantastic experience.

We would recommend to anyone to stay at Andrea's place if you need an inexpensive place to say while in Bergamo.