In the past, when arriving in Paris or London, we've just taken public transport into the city. Since there are 4 of us arriving in Rome two weeks from today, a shuttle service seems to be the way to go this time. I am debating 2 options - the much-discussed and generally highly-regarded Romashuttle (€ 100 return) and a service offered through our rental agency Romepower.com (€ 145 return). So I can save myself € 45 by choosing Romashuttle. A no-brainer, right?
Well, maybe not. I have to travel to the Romepower.com offices to pay my rental & pick up the keys before heading to the apartment in Trastevere. Or I can always avail myself of Romepower.com's "Gold Service" and have somebody meet me at the apartment for an additional € 40 if I book their shuttle service or € 70 if I don't. "Gold Service"? - more gold for Romepower.com, I guess. I am aware that Italy is a pricey travel destination compared to, say, France, but € 70 to have somebody meet you at the apartment???
So, will Romashuttle make an additional stop and how much will they charge for the service - keeping in mind that it will likely take a few minutes in the office? I emailed yesterday and shortly after emailing, I phoned the office. The guy on the phone said he would get back to me today.
Oh yeah, Romepower.com indicates that if I don't book their shuttle service, I will have to return the keys to their office at check-out. Lovely.
So it looks like the options to avoid the office visit are € 170 with Romashuttle and € 185 with Romepower.com - a lot of bucks or Euros or whatever to get to & from the apartment in Rome. And I haven't even calculated the 20% additional charge for the return trip to the airport if we have to be picked-up before 7:00am.
