We loved Walter’s unique apartment, full of personality and handily located near two bridges and several bus stops. It is amazingly easy to walk everywhere and always through interesting streets. The weather was quite cold in late December, but the apartment was always warm and there was plenty of hot water. It was great to have a good washing machine. The bedroom was very quiet except for two nights when the small restaurant below the apartment had an unusually late party going on for Christmas eve and day, and even that was not bad --- we are just light sleepers.
The vintage things in the apartment were each chosen with love by Walter and the antique furniture acquired from his family, so this is definitely not a blank-slate, uncluttered, modern, Ikea-furnished kind of place, if that’s what someone is looking for. For us, it felt homey and comfortable. And very large. We thought that the expanded and big enough but still quite small toilet room is charming and funny, even the tiny flight of stairs going up to it, but it is something to consider if you might have issues with it.
Unfortunately, my husband and I were quite ill while in Florence for 11 days and so was Walter and his family, so we didn’t get to see him as much as other people do, but he emailed often and made sure that we were doing OK. He is a thoughtful and hard-working, and entertaining host, and his English is shockingly perfect. We almost didn’t book the apartment because we wanted an Italian host and thought Walter wasn’t!
If you are someone who examines the airbnb photos, I would say that they are accurate, but that the apartment feels and functions far better than the photos show. This was our favorite apartment of the three we stayed at in Italy. Thanks, Walter!