Trip Planning - Realistic Expectations

Introduction

Italy is an ancient country, and the properties available for rental are likely to have been built anywhere from the 15th to the 17th century - averaging an age of 500 years old. So that your expectations are realistic we urge you to read the facts below. Our accommodation Italy Rome varies from the luxury category all the way through to a standard category for the budget traveler. The facilities will vary according to the price however it's important for our clients to be aware that there are many differences between Vacation Rental Apartments in Italy and those available in modern countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia and the UK.

Plumbing

In Italy's ancient buildings the pipes are narrower and older than the pipes in newly constructed homes in other parts of the world. This can mean that the water pressure may not be anything near to what you're used to at home. You may not be able to have both bathroom showers going at once as there may not be room to have two boilers in the apartment. As the majority of the apartments contain relatively small heating systems, it is advised that occupants should leave intervals between showers, if more than 4 occupants. If you place anything other than the "usual" items in the WC you will get a blockage, this goes for the sink too, there is no such thing as a garbage disposal in Italy - in ancient homes this would simply not function. In our own home near the Spanish Steps, we have had countless plumbers in to see what we can do to boost the pressure, but all say the same thing, without digging up the pipes under the whole palazzo we will need to get used to the low pressure... and by the way, we have.

Italian Cities & Construction

Italian cities are, and will always be under renovation, when you consider that age of the buildings this should come as no surprise! To preserve these beautiful ancient buildings it is necessary to completely remove the rendering on the buildings and re render, there is rarely a street without scaffolding or some other type of construction in the historic center of any city in Italy. If you know this before you arrive and appreciate that it is necessary to preserve this wonderful city then it will be less of a surprise and annoyance to you. Italy's cities and their ancient buildings do gather more dust than in a modern city, it's just a fact of life here in this part of the world and needs to be understood, all properties are meticulously cleaned after each departure in readiness for the next client, but during your stay, if a little dust settles you need to understand that the property is not dirty it's just one of the facts of life living in an ancient city.

Coffee

Italy is famous for its wonderful coffee, the coffee maker of choice in Italy is a Moka, this will be found in every Italian home and makes delicious coffee. This coffee maker makes very strong coffee that is drunk by the inch, either as a short black, with hot milk for breakfast, or with boiling water for a long cup. An American coffee maker is almost never used in Italy therefore the course ground coffee necessary to use one is also very difficult to find, therefore we suggest you put aside your usual habits and enjoy the delicious Italian coffee whilst you holiday in Italy.

Noise

Italian cities were constructed with the pedestrian in mind, four and five story buildings were constructed on either side of narrow cobblestone streets, housing cafes, restaurants, bars, grocery stores on the ground level, and residential apartments and offices in the floors above. This design means that voices, footsteps and any other traffic can echo and disturb light sleepers, so we suggest you bring ear plugs with you if you forsee that as an issue. The Italian lifestyle mixed with the level of tourism means that there are likely to be many people on the streets at night, so if you will be turning in early you need to realize that the rest of the city is likely to be out enjoying themselves, so to enjoy Italy to it's fullest, you should either swing into the Italian lifestyle or bring earplugs.

Amenities

We list all the amenities for each apartment, so if it's not listed you shouldn't just expect it to be there, eg: some smaller apartments do not have washing machines and it would be highly unlikely to find a dryer in an Italian apartment, instead you will find a drying rack.

Elevators

Unless specified you shouldn't expect an elevator this is always listed on the apartment page. Remember that at the time of construction in 99% of cases elevators were not yet invented, nor were they expecting them to be, so space for an elevator was not on their minds at the time. Many buildings have since had elevators installed within stairwells, these can at times be as small as to occupy only 2 people at a time.

Sets of Keys

Upon check in you will receive at least two sets of keys, if not more. We give our clients as many sets of keys as we have available for the apartment. Keys are expensive and difficult to cut in Italy, so it is not always possible that you will have as many keys as there are occupants.

Air Conditioning

One thing to take note of is that the air conditioning you are used to at home is not the same as the air conditioning in Italy. At home, most houses and apartments are equipped with central air conditioning, in Italy, in most cases rooms have individually controlled air conditioning units in each room, electricity is very expensive and air conditioning is still relatively new in private homes. Some properties may be air conditioned in the bedrooms only, or maybe only the living areas, in this case it will be clearly defined on the amenities listing of each property.

Linens and Towels

All of our apartments are fully furnished and come with linens and towels. Linens and towels, however, will not be changed daily. The apartment is cleaned after each guest leaves. If you wish to have your linens and towels changed during your stay you will be charged an extra fee.