travel europe italy lazio rome guest house piazza novano
Via Sebastiano Veniero, 26, 00192 Rome, Italy
We stayed in Guest House Piazza Novana for four nights during the summer of 2017.
The location was great... just off the Piazza Novana and close to the bridge to Castel Sant' Angelo and the Vatican beyond.
There was a nice small shop next door where we could get drinks and some food items.
The upstairs apartment was clean and well appointed and had air conditioning, essential for a stay in August.
There was one bedroom, a bath, a kitchen, a "den" off the kitchen, and a livingroom/diningroom.
As was normal for many locals in August, the owner was on vacation and we were greated by nice young man who worked with the booking agency.
However, we were plagued in our stay from the beginning by many inconveniences, many that could have been avoided.
When we arrived, after a reservation made months in advance, we found they were expecting a group of four, not six.
We managed to share the towels etc...
My wife and I slept on the two couch beds in the "den." We found a folding cot in a closet which we put in the "den" with us for one of the grandkids.
The other grandchild, 10, had to sleep on the livingroom couch.
The folding cot had a broken slat in it that required carefull use.
On the wall above the cot was a framed drawing that had broken glass in it that was falling out.
The couch bed I slept on collapsed the first night, the bed frame falling through the frame supports that looked like they had been bent for a long time.
I'm not that big and I survived the surprise. I'm just happy it wasn't my wife who chose that bed.
The air conditioning was heavenly, but when we were in the middle of cooking dinner, the electrical load was apparently too much and the circuit breaker shut off all the power.
It took over an hour after we left a message at the rental agency for them to contact the owner.
Eventually, the pleasant owner telephoned us from his vacation spot to tell us where the circuit breaker was.
By then, my son had found the circuit board on the staircase below the apartment and had gingerly turned it back on so we could finish dinner.
The last hazard was only an inconvenience. The nice wood parque floor had been laid over concrete and the glue had failed in a couple places.
As we attempted to cook in the kitchen, short sections of the wood flooring kept sticking to our feet and coming up and tripping us.
Even with all the problems, we had a pleasant stay... the mishaps just added to the narrative of our Rome adventure.
If it hadn't been for the maintenance issues, I would have rated it much higher.
I'd like to think that most of these issues were the result of a previous renter of which the owner was not aware.
TRAVEL: 2017 -
This location has earned a three star (good) rating from
Travel Fanatics Unlimited
***
unless noted otherwise all images copyright d. holmes chamberlin jr architect llc
Exterior, Guest House Piazza Novano, Rome, Lazio, Italy, 2017.
Livingroom, Guest House Piazza Novano, Rome, Lazio, Italy, 2017.
Dining room, Guest House Piazza Novano, Rome, Lazio, Italy, 2017.
Kitchen, with window that opened out into the "den," Guest House Piazza Novano, Rome, Lazio, Italy, 2017.
Flooring, Guest House Piazza Novano, Rome, Lazio, Italy, 2017.
copyright d. holmes chamberlin jr architect llc
page last revised october 2021