centrally located apartment, perfectly located next to the Mercato Centrale, close to the tain station, and with plenty of bars, restaurants, and stores close by.
the apartment is in a gated complex with multiple buildings and a few apartments in each. quaint, beautifully manicured gardens, very quiet in an otherwise busy area of florence. some people mentioned that it can get loud, but honestly, while we did hear people hanging out at night during the weekend while walking into the apartment, you can't hear a thing once you're home. plus, you're in the middle of a big city, so noise from every day life is to be expected.
the apartment was perfectly appointed and beautifully decorated. we walked in and the accent wall behind the TV blew us away. extremely spacious and comfortable for our family of three. they even thought of having a bottle of cold water in the fridge for us.
wifi was fast and reliable. netflix didn't work on the TV, but who needs that when you're in florence?!
parking, which is a huge plus if you're coming by car or doing road trips around tuscany, is included in the apartment, and it's extremely convenient, because it's underground in the same complex (right under the apartment, in fact).
the washer is in another building in the complex, a short couple of steps from the apartment. be prepared, because it's 3€ for each wash load and 1€ for each 15 minutes of dryer time. The machine only takes 50 cent and 1€ coins. There was regular laundry detergent and baby/sensitive skin detergent available in the apartment, but you can also buy individual packets from a vending machine in the laundry room.
the downstairs bedroom doesn't have a door, but it's very quite down there. it has its own bathroom as well as access to the terrace (which we didn't use given the heat wave!). water pressure was excellent, and the showers are completely enclosed, so no spilling of water everywhere, and just super refreshing showers!
two things that I would point out: the upstairs has electric shutters that make the apartment pitch black. super useful if you want to sleep in or keep the house insulated. however, the downstairs shutters let in quite a bit of light, so consider that if you're a light sleeper or otherwise like to have a dark room in the morning. also, the AC upstairs worked OK, but the downstairs one was significantly weaker. we were more sensitive to this than usual, given the heat wave in the region when we were there. we pointed this out to the owners, but it seems like that's just how it is. we had no problems with the upstairs temperature, but the downstairs unit is much weaker, and did not keep the room anywhere near as cool as upstairs. we had to change sleeping arrangements as two of us could simply not sleep downstairs with as hot as it was, even though we kept the AC on max for the whole week we were there. it may have helped if the hosts had left the AC running in preparation for our arrival so that the temperature would already be comfortable once we got there.
except for this AC issue, which is unlikely to be a big deal for other guests given historically high temperatures this summer, we would definitely recommend this property and the hosts. the apartment was beautiful, welcoming, thoughftfully appointed, and convenient, and the hosts are very responsive. we'll definitely consider this property again next time we're in the area!