A week in Rome—hotel or apartment?

[Anonymous]

We stayed in this place when we spent a week in Rome and enjoyed. A week is not too long. Unless you have a boatload of money I find it's better to rent apartments in Europe. There's space to spread out and kitchen facilities, neither of which you will find unless you do high end hotels.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentalReview-g187791-d2503859-Casa_Paradiso_Loft-Rome_Lazio.html

[Anonymous]

They are called lavenderia if there is no washer in your place. Solo lavaggio . Also generally it would be really rare to find an in unit dryer in Rome. Clothes lines are ubiquitous.

[Anonymous]

Most European apartments do not have a separate drier - only what appears as a “washer” but in fact it is a washer/drier in one.

It has a setting that dries clothes after a wash - they can come out very dry and/or hot (depending on the setting). Was the case in our Roman AirBnB.

[Anonymous]

We got a hotel, it was nice but compared to an Airbnb was way over priced. Unfortunately we couldn't cancel in time and stuck with it. The hotel was super small.

[Anonymous]

We almost exclusive use Airbnb (in US and internationally). The key is to only book places with 5 star reviews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you spending a week in rome? Maybe 2 nights, then head elsewhere. Florence is a quick and easy train ride.

If it’s Thursday we must be in Rome

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We will be spending a week in Rome with two teens in late March. Kind of torn between a hotel or apartment rental. I know an apartment makes more sense for that length of time but I worry that if things go wrong, there’s just no recourse. We have pretty much stopped staying in AirBnBs in the U.S. for this reason. A hotel feels more reliable. I’m wondering what others think, especially if you’ve had positive experiences with Rome apartment rentals. I would also welcome mid-range hotel recs, particularly places with connecting or family-style rooms. Looking especially around Piazza Navona but open to other options. Thanks!

We spent about a week in Rome and did the hotel. They include a great breakfast and the hotel was next to the Trevi fountain. It was nice to have the room made up each day, breakfast and the concierge made reservations for dinner, etc.

https://umilta36.com/en/

They had candy and baked good out each afternoon. Oh and everything(water, snack, stuff in the refrigerator, etc) in the room was complementary. We were upgraded because we stay about a week.

[Anonymous]

I would recommend apartment. We use VRBO. We have two teens and just did about the same number of days in a hotel. For the second half of the trip we switched to a small condo because that was just a lot of people in one hotel room for that long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you spending a week in rome? Maybe 2 nights, then head elsewhere. Florence is a quick and easy train ride.

If it’s Thursday we must be in Rome

There’s an in between of staying a week in Rome and splitting your time between two cities/regions. 2-3 nights in Rome, similar in Florence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We stayed for a week in a wonderful AirBnB in Rome this year (and coincidentally it is a 3 minute walk to Piazza Navona):
https://www.airbnb.com/slink/eQOxxqjS
It was one of the best AirBnB experiences we ever had anywhere. All the glowing reviews are very accurate.

PP: Could you please clarify the bedding? Is the French bed in the second bedroom alcove? And are the French bed and the "single" bed in one bedroom (i.e. suitable for 2 siblings)? Does the "master" have an ensuite bath? Was that bed a king, queen or what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We stayed for a week in a wonderful AirBnB in Rome this year (and coincidentally it is a 3 minute walk to Piazza Navona):
https://www.airbnb.com/slink/eQOxxqjS
It was one of the best AirBnB experiences we ever had anywhere. All the glowing reviews are very accurate.

PP: Could you please clarify the bedding? Is the French bed in the second bedroom alcove? And are the French bed and the "single" bed in one bedroom (i.e. suitable for 2 siblings)? Does the "master" have an ensuite bath? Was that bed a king, queen or what?

The sleeping arrangements were just fine for the four of us:

1. what they call a “double bed” (not sure if it was a queen or a king or something in between but enough for 2 adults) in one room
2. Two beds in another room for kids (I believe it was one “single” and one “double” in the alcove)

I believe there is another bed above the kitchen but we did not use it - so there are 4 separate beds

Ensuite bath is in the kids’ room but it is quite small. A larger bath is next door to parents’ room.

The apartment itself is several centuries old and quite large so we had plenty of space to spread out.

What really set them apart from all the other AirBnBs is the fact that the mother/daughter team of owners thought of every single need that a family might have while staying there: lots of food for breakfast and snacks, coffee, bottled water, toiletries, laundry detergent, towels, paper products, umbrellas, etc.

I am so used to doing a store run for basic food/water/paper towels/kleenex/drinks whenever we stay at a AirBnB that I was so relieved that we didn’t have to do it there. I thought it was an ingenious idea that really set those hosts apart and I’m surprised that other hosts are not doing the same: it really does not cost them that much compared to how much money they make renting the place out but everyone seems to be so surprised and happy with that so it definitely pays off in great reviews. The hosts also were very responsive and nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you spending a week in rome? Maybe 2 nights, then head elsewhere. Florence is a quick and easy train ride.

Disagree. We spent a week in Rome and loved every minute. Took a day trip to Orvieto, but otherwise explored the entire city. So glad we weren't rushing around from city to city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you spending a week in rome? Maybe 2 nights, then head elsewhere. Florence is a quick and easy train ride.

I disagree with PP.

OP, if your teens enjoy history, historical building and architecture, and just being in a city with so much culture, good food and daily gelatos( so much cheaper and better than a mid icecream here), then, I would spend a week in Rome. I would rent an apartment or even try a monastery or hostel stay ( if no plans to cook). Many hostels and monasteries have private rooms- most have breakfast included.

When we visited Rome 14 years ago, we did AirBnB in a residential building, 5 mins walk from Trevi Fountain. It was great because kids were younger and we were able to cook dinners at home. The cons- lack of a/c in all rooms except one. Young adults partying late into the night- noise factor (especially since windows had to be kept open). Lastly, the garbage and recycle trucks would make loud noises very early in the mornings.

Recently, when we traveled to Rome with two teens- we booked Hotel Primavera- excellent location and good breakfast. They may have discounts via 3rd party booking sites for one week stays.

Lastly, I would highly recommend a day trip to Pompeii and Florence or Bolgna( if foodie in the family).

Have a great trip!

A day trip to Florence? No, spend a few nights there.

Has the OP taken their kids to Italy before? If not, then spending the entire week in Rome is ridiculous, I'm sorry.

So bizarre ^^. Florence is nice for a day trip - I would definitely spend most of my time in Rome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, also — there was a washing machine but we did not see a dryer! Did not occur to me that laundry facilities might not include a dryer. We didn’t want it hang stuff around the apartment so we just made do without laundry for the week. It was cool enough in March that we weren’t sweating that much.

Was it one of those washer/dryer combos? Our apartment in Croatia had one and it was *awful*. The clothes never got fully dry, so we wound up just hanging things up anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We almost exclusive use Airbnb (in US and internationally). The key is to only book places with 5 star reviews.

+1
We stayed in a lovely Airbnb apartment in Rome - it was near the Colosseum which we loved, but the OP wants to be further north, so I won't link it. Airbnbs that have consistent 5 star reviews are pretty worry-free.