Me and my wife had a two nights stay at Chiara's appartment. That was our first time in Milano and Italy. We had great time in Milano and great experience with Chiara as a host. Let's get into details:
The Apartment:
2 rather small, cozy rooms (Living and bedroom), small separated kitchen with everything you might need and a bathroom. The place had awesome aroma in every room and was very clean. The neighbors were very quiet, we barely heard any movement. The apartment was equiped with everything we needed. It had an oven, fridge, big TV, dishwasher, dishes, glasses and everything you need to prepare a meal. It was also decorated very artistic with paintings and a big mirror on the wall. Our only issue was that the Wi-Fi stoped on our second day and we were not able to make it work again even with the help of Chiara. It was not that big of an issue, as we were not there most of the time.
The location:
400 metres from porta Romana (and the metro). 2.6km from the Duomo and 2.4km from the Navigli. On our first day we were only walking, so the distance to Duomo and Navigli is easily covered in 30-35 min lazy walking with stops for gelato :). On our second day we took the metro to Duomo. It was only 3 stops, so less than 10 minutes. Right across the street there is a stand for the shared bikes (check google for "bikemi milano"), and just around the corner there was a tram and buses stop. The apartment was very well connected with all kinds of transportation.
The neighborhood:
I found the neighborhood to be rather quiet, despite the fact that there was fairly busy boulevards around. An awesome restaurant, where most of the visitors were locals, is located just 30 metres from the apartment and just around the corner (50 metres or so), there is a gelateria working until midnight with awesome gelato. I didn't met any of our neighbors, only heard them once or twice when they was coming home.
The hostes:
We were 15-20 minutes late on our arrival and Chiara waited for us outside. Despite our delay, she greeted us with a smile and showed us around the appratment. She had prepared for us a big map and travel guide with the best places in Milano and best streets for a walk, also she had printed her personal best places of choice. Luckily her english was better than my italian so we had fairly good communication. Both days she contacted me to ask if everything is ok and if we need any help with anything. We found Chiara very kind, good, willing to help and joyfull. Very nice person to summarize it.
The next time we visit Milano, Chiara's place will be the first place I will check for availability.
Chiara, grazie mille! Тutto è stato grande! Fino alla prossima volta.