We found Maura's place to be disappointing. We had been excited about staying at this particular flat, as the photographs suggested an upscale experience, one that was worth the distance from the center of Florence. However, we were unpleasantly surprised to see how tired and worn it was. The flat was cheaply furnished. The couches, desks and beds were, in my opinion, the caliber of a youth hostel or highway motel. The painting was chipped or non existent in some areas, as we discovered when we opened the cupboards, for example. The washing machine (laundry) had to be jury-rigged with the use of a small screwdriver. (Instructions provided.)

The flat also had stale, musty smell, particularly near the bathroom, but emanating generally from the dark hallway which ran the length of the the flat. Some of the teacups on the shelves were unwashed, with stains that we easily removed with a little soap and elbow grease. The bathroom had three empty detergent bottles above the washing machine. When I pointed those out, there was no, "Oh, let me throw those away for you," it was "Yes, those are empty," as in.... that's not in my job description to clean the shelves of the bathroom. For the hefty 60 Euro cleaning fee, one would have expected a place that was spic and span. This was not that place.

There were none of the nice little details that we found with our other hosts, such as body soap, shampoo, etc. I don't expect these, but am always touched with they are there.

Upon entering the flat, we were also presented with a contract, in Italian, to sign. I was told that these contracts were common in Italy, but in our five experiences with AirBnB, we had not yet been asked to sign one. I did not sign the contract, but said that I would consider signing it if it were in English, as I do not speak Italian. The matter was dropped and never mentioned again.

Finally, the flat is not well located. It is simply too far to walk to the center or Florence and then do all the walking that touring Florence requires. It really requires one to learn the bus system (which, fortunately, is not hard to learn).

Communications with Maura were good. In fact, she showed a great deal of flexibility in letting us enter the flat earlier than 6:00 PM and, for that, I am grateful.

Overall, I cannot recommend this flat to others.