Before You Even Begin
We don't speak Italian. Will we have problems in Italy?
Not really. Italians are marvelously friendly people as a rule, and believe us, they've seen it all. Many Italians speak rudimentary English, especially virtually all waiters, and if the first one you ask for something doesn't understand, ask someone else. Smiling, gesturing, and pointing are useful.
The most important question of all. You must be absolutely honest with yourselves – and with us – about your standards and your expectations. If you're accustomed to staying at the Connaught in London or the Carlyle in New York or the Huntington in San Francisco or the Four Seasons everywhere, you may not be happy staying in a flat making your own bed. Can you really live without hotel service? Can you live with your sheets and towels changed weekly?
Renting an apartment is not the same as staying in hotel. If you rent a cottage at Cape Cod for a month and the light bulb burns out, or the toilet paper or soap runs out, you replace it by going to the store and buying a new one. You take the garbage out. You make your beds. There is no concierge. You make your own plans for hikes or daytrips, and you make your own restaurant reservations. And in general, these same rules of common sense apply in Italy as well. We are not hotel concierges, although we try to be generous in giving advice. If traveling independently intimidates you, be honest about it and stay in a hotel where such concierge services are (supposedly) included. In short, when we want hotel services, we go to hotel. If you want the same, we give you the same advice.
So why is renting your apartment any better than a hotel?
The reason many guests give us is precisely that they're tired of the type of travel which involves packing and unpacking and moving from hotel to hotel every couple of days. We find most people hate that kind of travel.
Staying for two weeks in a hotel if you're a small family? Forget it. An accommodation of your own will let you have real quality time together. Perhaps even more important from a practical point of view, food is so much easier with children when you've got your own place. It isn't that you have to cook every night, or at all. But a kitchen gives you the capability of doing takeout, heating food up, and dining on real dishes, not paper plates.
In another area of concern, guests have repeatedly told us over the years that they're tired of the superficial. They want to get an in-depth look at our beautiful city and its surroundings.
To us, the best thing about renting a house is the how the rhythm of our daily life becomes transformed. Whether we're in the country or the city, in the mountains or by the sea, we love getting up and out on an excursion early. We enjoy having a big lunch out. But after consuming that big lunch, often washed down with several glasses of wine, we can think of no more alluring prospect than returning home, taking out our mystery novel, and relaxing. Relaxing without a claustrophobic hotel room to call home, relaxing with the ability to raid the refrigerator, with the ability to throw together a salad in the evening and not go out to endure, yet again, the full 3-hour ceremony. Renting a house allows your trip to become a real vacation.
Is renting cheaper than a hotel?
Not necessarily. Now, it's quite true that you can find a 3rd- or maybe even a 2nd-class hotel in our same range or less, including, of course, daily maid service. So we readily admit that staying in a hotel can be cheaper, though with ordinary 3-star hotels in Rome, running 250 euros per night or more, it’s hard to imagine a hotel being advantageous in terms of cost.
But again, the whole experience is different. Having your own apartment with a living room, a separate bedroom, and a kitchen is entirely different from staying in a hotel room. You may not get the daily maid service (although this can be arranged), but you get a lot of space and charm which, to our mind, more than compensate. The ability to experience shopping the produce markets and preparing your own lunch with fresh ingredients is a positive one, to say the least.
Finally, even sticking strictly with cost considerations, we would argue that the true comparison should be between an apartment and a hotel suite, not a hotel room. If this is the measure, then the apartment wins hands down.
If you're a couple with two kids, we think that's a bargain these days, at least in Italy. If you're used to staying in deluxe hotels at $400 to upwards of $800 or more per night for a room (a room, not a suite), we think our lovely apartment is a real bargain.
Again, things are changing. If it’s a big deal
to you, ask us, as we know what the story is in each
case. We try to keep our written descriptions up to
date in this regard, but it’s worth asking anyway.
How far ahead do we need to book?
Clients often ask us, "When do we have to make a decision?"
The flip answer is: Before the other guy does. That, since it only takes one other person to come before you and ruin your trip.
Before giving a complete answer to this question, however, we urge you please to call us no matter how short the notice. We may still be the exactly right place for you. It is by no means certain that our flat might not by fluke have remained open for just your week, even if you call as late as one week ahead of time, even in peak season. We’ve seen this happen. So don’t be discouraged from asking.
Rule of Thumb. Our most requested period in the year, bar none, is the last two weeks in June. If that is the period you want, then get your act together early, and we mean it. There aren't that many exclusive flats to go around anyhow, and the competition, especially from European renters, is intense. Europeans know you've got to book way ahead; Americans are only now catching on.
In the center of Rome in the prime months of April, May, June, September, and October, usually 3 months’ advance notice is sufficient. Another thing about Rome: it doesn’t usually have seasons. Our experience now is that February and March are just as popular for rental as spring and fall months.
Again: call us anyway.
We have no restrictions as to time: when is the best time to travel to italy?
For Rome, Florence, or Venice, our advice as to the best time to travel is March or April (avoiding the week before and the week after Easter) or November. Alternatively, any winter month. And finally – you won’t believe this – August. Why August? Because if you can take the heat, the cities are emptier than virtually any other month in the year. Rome in particular literally opens up. It’s the only month in the year when in Rome you can drive sanely and park a car virtually anywhere you please.
Will our flat be centrally heated?
Yes. The apartment has a new independent gas heating system and it works fantastically well. It will heat up the flat in about 10-15 minutes at the most. The flat itself is not cold: the thick 800 years old walls keep the inside temperature very stable. If you're coming to Italy in late spring or early fall, you may never turn the heating on, but give yourself the peace of mind that if it does turn cold, you will have it.
Heating in Italy is nearly always charged as an extra, either as a flat rate per diem or metered by consumption. We prefer to check the gas-meter and charge it by consumption: in this way everybody knows what has to be paid and there'll be no surprises for any of us.
What about air-conditioning? Can't we get A/C?
No.
Why? The flat is naturally extremely well ventilated and the thick 800 years old walls keep the inside temperature very stable. In this sense air-conditioning would only be a way to run up the electric bill, increasing pollution and global warming. If you can't live without air-conditioning, don't rent from us. Please, go to a hotel.
We have an unusually well-behaved pet. Can we bring it with us?
You must ask permission to bring your (small and well-behaved) dog, and this will not invariably be granted. Cats are generally not allowed, because too many other renters are allergic to them or their recent presence. Nor are ferrets, hamsters, pet pigs, mice, etc., allowed.