The apartment is spacious and has great views of the Cathedral from most rooms. The building is very secure and it has access to the garage for parking and elevator directly from the garage. The location is about 15-20mins away from Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore.
I stayed here with my one year old son, husband and sister. This review may help other families with little ones.
My interaction with Stefano was great. He is responsive and answered all my questions. The check in process began two days before when I received the instructions as part of a Whastapp group chat (with others managing the apartment). This was helpful for planning purposes.
When we arrived it was after 5pm and it took us about an hour to settle in after unloading the car, adding perishables to the refrigerator and inspecting the rooms. I realized the crib I asked for was no where to be found and reached out. Stefano responded right away, apologized and said housekeeping will bring it the next day.
In the evening of the next day I reached out again because the crib had not arrived. Someone else replied to the group chat and it arrived around 8pm at which point my son was already sleeping on a makeshift bed I made for him on the floor due to the fear of him falling from the main bed. Please note the portable crib provided may not be suitable for infant children as the crib mattress was not firm, be sure to ask for pictures so that you can judge for yourself.
Also, please be sure to check for mosquitos. In the main bedroom alone we eliminated roughly 16 mosquitos on the night we arrived. We stopped counting after checking the other two bedrooms, living room, kitchen and bathrooms. Eliminating most mosquitos from both floors took us close to one hour and a half. We were already tired from traveling but we had to get rid of them after being bit multiple times. Given the large number of mosquitos, in my opinion, I would call this an infestation. Generally, mosquitos thrive where there is stagnant water, damp and hot temperatures - it hadn’t rained and couldn’t locate any bodies of water nearby so this remains a mystery. Stefano and team were alerted the next day once I had some free time to describe the experience. He said he would alert the cleaning company immediately. I would advise keeping the windows closed during end of September as it appears that’s when mosquitos are most prevalent in the area or building. We were also bit in the parking garage. You’ll find some there too.
There is a small refrigerator in the kitchen where you can store a few small items. This is something to consider if you are looking to stay for longer periods and cook.
I would recommend asking for a clean sponge for washing dishes and more than one garbage bag for your stay.
We used the washing machine and hung the clothes to dry. Having access to this was great because young kids can go through a few pieces of clothing a day.
There was one set of keys. To open the main door you can either call a number which will automatically open the door for you or use the keys. The key to enter the building did not work for us and calling the number requires you to have cellular service (you can’t use Whats App).
The WiFi connection was strong which is always awesome.