My wife and I absolutely loved our 2-night stay at Cristina's gorgeous apartment when we visited Florence in mid-February. Cristina was away due to her work obligations at her riding school in the countryside so her lovely daughter, Gioria, helped us check-in.

The apartment is a spacious 90 sq.m. unit located on the ground floor of a building located less than 10 min by foot from the Duomo. The location is very convenient, and my wife and I were able to walk from the apartment to practically all the key sights in Florence within 25 min. Given how beautiful the city is, we enjoyed walking everywhere. The interior is tastefully decorated and is very charming and romantic. At the same time, the apartment contains all the modern conveniences, such as a nice, modern kitchen, large water heater that allowed long, hot showers and good WiFi coverage throughout the apartment. The entire apartment's ceiling is decorated with stunning centuries-old frescoes, which made it a bit difficult for me to fall asleep as I couldn't help but admire the beautiful artwork above me as I lay in bed. The master bedroom is very spacious and has a pretty ensuite bathroom. The second bedroom includes a sofa-bed and leads to a private, bright outdoors patio. In the patio there's a set of wrought-iron table and chairs. In warmer weather, this would be a perfect space to enjoy breakfast or tea outdoors.

Cristina and Giorgia are absolutely wonderful hosts. Cristina was very responsive to all email correspondence, and Giorgia patiently gave my wife and I a comprehensive tour of the apartment when we checked-in, and also answered all of our practical questions related to Florence. Cristina was kind enough to have prepared a complimentary bottle of wine from her country home as well as a bag of delicious pastries. She had also thoughtfully stocked the pantry with plenty of packaged bread and pastries. She was also nice enough to recommend two restaurants, but unfortunately one was closed for holiday and the other was fully booked during our stay in Florence.

My wife's and my only regret during this visit was that we had only two nights to spend in Cristina's charming apartment. The apartment is really a special place, and our stay there was one of the highlights of our vacation in Italy.