So back in March, we took a trip to Rome. We stayed for 8 nights - I was there working, unfortunately, while my husband had most of the childcare duties. Luckily I've visited Rome many times before and have had many opportunities to explore the city and its wonderful sites. So I wasn't *too* sad that I didn't get to do the touristy thing.
I was in Rome organizing a conference. But rather than stay in the conference hotel, we decided to rent an apartment in Rome. Hotels in Rome (and in Europe, for the most part) tend to be small by American standards. And the walls aren't particularly thick. So I was worried that either other people would keep my son awake, or he would keep other people awake and angry. And I figured that he would want some space to roam around. So we decided to rent an apartment for the week - it turned out to be a marvelous plan, and with three adults and 1 baby, my stay in the apartment turned out to be cheaper than getting a hotel room. (Granted, we were staying near Piazza Navona which is prime touristy area, so hotel prices in that area are on the high side to begin with.) I also figured that a full kitchen would be very helpful for preparing meals for my son.
Anyway, the service I used was Sleep in Italy. They offer apartments of all sizes and in all neighborhoods in Rome. Their prices, I think, are quite affordable - and they have apartments at many different budget levels. Dealing with them was incredibly simple. I emailed back and forth with them over the course of months (I wanted to carefully research all my options!) and they were always patient and courteous. They typically responded via email to my inquiries within a couple days. Also, you can arrange to have a crib delivered to the apartment for a small extra fee. (A small complaint - they had told me via email that they would provide a pack-n-play type of crib. But an Ikea-type crib was at the apartment when I arrived, and it was set at the highest setting. We had no tools to modify the position, so we ended up not being able to use the crib at all for safety reasons.)
So here's how my experience with the whole reservation process went - I emailed them for information about their rentals and about specific properties over the course of a few months. They have all their properties, along with pictures and descriptions, on their website. The website also shows the availability of their different properties. They were quick to respond (and at one point, even offered me an unsolicited discount!). When I was ready to book, I completed a form that they sent me via email and sent it back to them. On this form, I was instructed to provide the time at which I would arrive at the apartment so the owner could meet me there and give me the keys. I was then required to pay a deposit. Because I didn't want to send them my credit card details via email, I called them with my credit card number. The person who answered the phone answered it in Italian, but then quickly switched to very good English when she realized I spoke English. The deposit was 20% of the total cost of my reservation; the balance was to be paid in cash upon arrival. After the payment was made, I received a reservation confirmation via email with the name and cell phone number of the owner.
Fast forward to a few months later... when I arrived at the apartment, I buzzed my apartment number, but nobody was there. I waited for 10 minutes. Still nobody. I walked around looking for a pay phone, but pay phones that take coins and not phone cards are very scarce. I started panicking. Luckily, a local shop owner allowed me to use his phone, and I called the apartment owner. The owner met me at at the apartment about 10 minutes later, gave me the keys, a quick tour, information about the area and apartment, etc. I paid him the balance due in cash. Afterwards, he left us in peace to collect our wits and settle in. We had no problems during the duration of our stay.
When we left, we had arranged with the apartment owner that we would leave the keys inside the apartment, since our flight was at 6AM.
Overall, the whole process was sufficiently smooth. The only snafu was when I wandered around, looking for a phone to call the owner. It would have been nice if he had been in the apartment when I rang the doorbell. To avoid this whole mess, either have a cell phone handy, or see if you can make clear to Sleep in Italy that you will have no phone in Rome and ask that the person who is to meet you at the apartment to give you the keys is actually IN the apartment at the specified time. The perks of having a full kitchen and extra space were well-worth the initial troubles
I've also heard good things about Rental in Rome. Although I didn't use their service, I did email them early in my research process, and they were also very courteous and quick to respond to my inquiries via email.
The people who work at these two companies speak very good English, and there are also phone numbers should you wish to contact them via phone.
No comments:
Post a Comment