We stayed in Ilaria’s apartment in May 2015 and loved it!

The location, the décor and all the amenities were just wonderful. Ilaria was also fabulous. She was always helpful and responded to any queries like “how do you work the washing machine given it’s all in Italian?”.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a gorgeous “welcome basket” which consisted of bread, milk, juice, eggs, biscuits and coffee. It was just what we needed after flying seven hours with an 18 month old and getting lost driving to the apartment (blame it on the GPS!).

The apartment was very clean and was well stocked with most things you would find at home. We loved waking up each morning, opening the automated blinds, making an espresso together with a salami and ricotta cheese toastie (there is a sandwich-press there!) and sitting out on the balcony and taking in the breathtaking views of Milan.

Everything you need is walking distance from the apartment from restaurants, bars, retail shopping, supermarket, underground car park and the city centre is only 10 minutes away.

The air conditioning wasn’t working so we notified Ilaria and she had someone come and look at the system the very next morning. Unfortunately, the AC needed further maintenance so could not be fixed during our stay. It was OK to sleep with the windows open but my “sweet-blooded” hubby got bitten by mosquitos. Ilaria was very apologetic and offered a reimbursement for part of our stay. This would never happen at a hotel, so we were totally blown away with Ilaria’s generosity.

The below notes are not to be perceived as negative – they are just for noting for parents with babies / toddlers.
- The apartment is located on level 7 of the building, the elevator only goes to level 6, so if you are travelling with a stroller (like we did), you need to carry it up the last flight of stairs.

- The apartment is open-plan i.e. no doors to close off the bedroom, so if your child is a light sleeper (like ours), any noise or light coming in may disturb them.

- The apartment is situated in a very trendy part of town, with bars that stay open til late, some nights we could hear music playing and people shouting down the street. It wasn’t a problem for us…only for our little light sleeper. You may also hear trams and ambulance sirens, given it is on a main road.

- There was one TV in the apartment hidden in the cupboard of the bedroom area – it wasn’t located in the lounge area so it meant that we couldn’t watch TV when our little one was sleeping in the cot in the bedroom. This wasn’t a big issue as we had the internet and had some good old fashioned conversation!

I would highly recommend Ilaria’s apartment to others who would like to explore Milan. We’d definitely come back. Thanks again Ilaria for your generosity.