I'm about to confirm an apartment rental in Rome in August with them, but before I do so, wanted to check in here. We were burned last year with a similar agency in Barcelona that was recommended by a reader on Trip Advisor, and our holiday still turned out to be wonderful, so I'm just a bit tentative and wanted to see if anyone has had experiences with Under the Roman and/or Tuscan Sun apartment rental service. Barbara
The website looks very tempting, I admit...but I would watch out for "poetic license," particularly in descriptions of locations.
For instance: "The apartment lies two minutes by foot from the Coliseum and to Colle Oppio’s Domus Aurea, just a few steps from the basilicas of S. Giovanni in Laterano e S. Maria Maggiore." It's true these are all within walking distance, but "a few steps" and "two minutes" are probably a bit optimistic.
Also, look very carefully at the pictures and compare them with the words, rather than getting carried away by general impressions. The same apartment referred to above (the Colosseo Suite) looks quite large and is described as a suite, but seems to be one open space divided into sections and possibly photographed creatively (note the kitchen in a cupboard, the same table in several pictures,the lack of a non-sofa-bed, and what may be an excellent use of mirrors to increase a sense of light & space). The place may be plenty spacious - I did't see dimensions - but I would ask for more details such as how many windows, sq-footage or meterage, &c.
I don't know which apartment you are interested in, so I just looked at a couple. I also notice that the Miralf House, given as Colosseo area, seems to be direcly behind the Termini train station.
These comments are not meant as discouragements. The apartments do look nicely set up and if you check to make sure your expectations are accurate they could be lovely. I also like the significant discounts for longer stays.
Dorothy, Thanks for your input. It's the Sunflower apartment. And I did email my contact there this afternoon to query her a bit closer and ask for past guest references. We got burned last year as I think I said w/a BCN apartment rental agency, and it all turned out well in the end, but I want to avoid it every happening again. Barbara
Dorothy, I did hear back from my contact at Under the Roman Sun, and she sent me an email from a family who recently booked an apartment with them and were delighted. In fact, they're going to be traveling to Rome again in the winter, and requested another booking with them, so that's a good sign to me. She sent me a copy of the email from the satisfied guests, a family of 4. So, without having stayed in the apartment yet, I can reservedly recommend them, and they do take PayPal, which is a convenience. Barbara
Sounds promising. And I agree on what a convenience it is to use PayPal for the deposit. Have a lovely trip, and be sure to let us know how it worked out!
