Big family accommodation in Rome...

AirBnB might be your best bet although it’s been many years since I was in Rome and I was camping at the time

Thanks, yes, I have spent quite a long time on Airbnb.
We haven't been for maybe 5 years but have never needed so much space before.
Last time we only needed 3 bedrooms. This time we need 8 plus really.

Do you need to be in Rome or near it??
Could you look at villas with more bedrooms a short distance from Rome, and hopefully some of you will hire cars or there could be good public transport links.
Options on Airbnb when it comes to bigger properties probably improve once outside the city.

Btw sounds like a great family bash.

Thanks Babs.
Originally I was looking at exactly that, Babs - big houses with great links into Rome (as have stayed in the countryside with a fantastic local link into the city once before) but found that we didn't want to trail in and out every day so missed out on some things we wanted to do - though obviously enjoyed messing about in the pool and local exploration.
That time there was only 6 of us though and we had a leisurely 10 days.

Then we found a truly lovely apartment with 3 (maybe it had 4) bedrooms - and more than enough space for 5 of us. It was out of season a bit and really lovely and the teenage children loved being in the city and going out for breakfast.

This time we are tied to school holidays so the 7 or 8 or 9 bedroom properties are astronomical prices for whole weeks. I found one for nearly £24,000 which was almost perfect!

I'd be happy to consider (say) a few apartments in the same building if there was one where we could hang out a bit say on a roof terrace.

We could even look at family friendly hotels - if we went just for a few days for a half term short break (say) but I am conscious of our numbers and don't want a hotel where a lot of us chatting would annoy other guests.

I'm open to suggestions.
I suppose I was hoping someone would say "24 of us went to this place for 3 days and it was fine".


I am not in a hurry but know the grandchildren are growing up fast and two are interested in Ancient Greek and Roman history- and if I can work something out would love to see their joy at just being there to see the amazing historical evidence on display just about everywhere you go.

I haven't a time-frame though.
Maybe Spring or Autumn is best anyway.

Or maybe this is just fantasy!

Thanks for being helpful.

www.villailcardinale.com/prices

7 beds, sleeps 12 - 14.
Might not be big enough?

Maybe you are better off booking separate accommodation? I haven't been to Rome but recently we had a big family get together in a European city and never thought about booking the same accommodation. However, it was a smallish city- so we just met up, sometimes by accidently bumping into each other- it happened three times in two days!
Then, of course we did get together for two separate birthday parties, which were wonderful.
It works for us, there were 26 of us altogether that travelled there- finding accommodation together would have been impossible.

Thank you Escaped - coincidentally I saw that yesterday. Very nice though.
Thank you.

We do need 17 as a minimum and 19 if my son and wife can come.

keepingquiet I booked 4 cottages this year in rural Wales which worked as there was basically nowhere to go other than the beach and walking and two of them had sitting rooms big enough for everyone.
It was difficult to find the same quality in a small place and we ended up with a few more beds than people in order to have space.

I think Rome is too big to do that - and my knowledge of it is much less.
Maybe my idea won't fly but if I am going to be responsible for the bookings I really do want to get it right!

We have had houses big enough for all of us elsewhere. Just not in or close to Rome.

We have also had a few days in a hotel here in the UK - mainly for birthdays and weddings - but can usually see quite easily how much space there is (say) in the grounds if they are rural.
We have only once had a "block booking" in a city - and it was in a hotel we'd already stayed at and knew it had several different areas to just gather.

We won't be joined at the hip. But we do want to have some family "get together" time too.

4 miles outside Rome? Sorry about the lengthy link, it isn't dodgy!

www.abritel.fr/location-vacances/p3233587a?dateless=true&x_pwa=1&rfrr=HSR&pwa_ts=1758974029318&referrerUrl=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWJyaXRlbC5mci9Ib3RlbC1TZWFyY2g%3D&useRewards=false&adults=14&children=1_6%2C1_1%2C1_2®ionId=179899&destination=Rome+%28et+environs%29%2C+Latium%2C+Italie&destType=MARKET&neighborhoodId=553248635976382290&latLong=41.903755%2C12.479556&privacyTrackingState=CAN_TRACK&productOffersId=016a92e9-4e21-4394-b08b-de6e9cba4213&searchId=d2e3392d-4e43-469b-ad7a-eb49f884d5e3&sort=RECOMMENDED&userIntent=&expediaPropertyId=36827925

Thanks Escaped I think I saw this on VBRO?
Will look again.

If there are aparthotels in Rome this might suffice as long as you can get units more or less close to each other. We did this with our family once when we needed more accommodation for visiting relatives from the US, I think aparthotels give you more room and have a small kitchenette for those who prefer breakfast in their rooms.

Palazzo delle Pietre is lovely, well situated.

I'm still not getting why you all need to be under the same roof. You say you're not joined at the hip... but staying 24/7 with my family, much as I love them, just isn't my thing.

Keepingquiet as I said we don't need to be all together but we do want at least one big space.

In the past we've enjoyed having casual breakfasts, suppers or after dinner games together in the past... ideally somewhere where little ones can be in bed - we enjoy the company of our adult children at the end of the day and can chat over a glass of wine,

We've done different things for most of the middle of the day in the past - except for the beach holiday where other than a few individual families having an outings or going grocery shopping - all 17 of us happily played together pretty much all the time in the sea, rock pools, on the beach...

We took it in turns to each family cook for everyone so only cooked once each whilst away.

Hope this explains it better.

Yes I do understand- but maybe not in Rome where the main focus would be on seeing the sights as you put it. A beach holiday or a break in the country isn't quite the same.

In any case I hope you find what you are looking for and everyone has a lovely time.

Yes, you're right, keepingquiet I'm thinking of a different sort of few days away here.... it's not a villa or cottage holiday with leisurely times I suppose. I think I may have been trying to do both the relaxing and hanging out and the activity all at once...
Sadly I don't think I have the many thousands of pounds of spare cash to do both together!
Thanks for drawing my attention to this.

I've observed, first hand, large extended families do these sort of holidays. (I was in the business so to speak). It works best if:
- you are close to amenities/activities for all ages
- if there is sufficient space back home for everyone to either congregate or spread out as they wish
- the property is safe and fairly private to the group
Admittedly we were not in a capital city, but only a few miles from an iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site, a walled port town, a 13th cathedral, a zoo etc etc, so everyone went off in different directions according to their tastes and energy levels.
I'd better stop now, as I'm sounding like a tourist guide, and NotSpaghetti knows what she wants anyway! 😆

Actually escaped we have operated exactly like that from a villa before.
Near Matera, near Lecce, in Ireland...

I'm wondering if it's too much to hope for near Rome without a mega budget.
I did check out the places you mentioned escaped and found another that I've emailed.
Lots of the bigger places do loads of weddings so are super expensive.
I'm not expecting Apulia prices but...

My friend did this in the summer.
Barn conversion in Dunwich, Suffolk. There were 10 of them but it could hold more. She’s going to book again.

escaped

I've observed, first hand, large extended families do these sort of holidays. (I was in the business so to speak). It works best if:
- you are close to amenities/activities for all ages
- if there is sufficient space back home for everyone to either congregate or spread out as they wish
- the property is safe and fairly private to the group
Admittedly we were not in a capital city, but only a few miles from an iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site, a walled port town, a 13th cathedral, a zoo etc etc, so everyone went off in different directions according to their tastes and energy levels.
I'd better stop now, as I'm sounding like a tourist guide, and NotSpaghetti knows what she wants anyway! 😆

We've a larger family. Our holidays together are precisely as you have described. Our favourite in Rome works particularly well just because the location is close to so many sites, gardens, Churches.

The gardens and gallery at Villa Borghese are spectacular.

Villa Borghese

Thanks Norah
Looks fabulous but sadly for seven or eight rooms for just 3 or 4 days in school holidays I think this is out of our price range.
Have been quoted £26,174.22 for 4 days x 7 rooms. Could probably manage with 7 but would be better with 8.
Does look perfect though!
Thank you for the idea.

Norah

Villa Borghese

Wow! Stunning setting, Norah.

NotSpaghetti is correct, that prices are bonkers for the large properties. That's because there are fewer of them in the first place, so supply and demand naturally means higher prices are charged. We could have let our summer weeks in the large house (7 beds) 10 times over. I used to feel a bit embarrassed charging top whack prices, though the properties were top quality in a beautiful place. When I look at the prices now, I'm flabbergasted as to who can afford them, but it's all relative to the times we live in, 25 years on.