Mariaflavia has a nice apartment in a good location in Florence. Our stay was an enjoyable one, however a few significant issues arose.
The apartment itself is clean and cosy, and the shared areas were large enough to be used by all. While there was no air conditioning, and therefore our room got very hot at night, this was what we had expected from the online description, and although it did not help much, the fans provided were a welcome addition. Investment in a proper air conditioning system would greatly improve this apartment, and could be a potential addition for the future.
However, our main issue with the apartment was that upon our arrival, we were informed that the wifi was not working, which was clearly not ideal, especially since the description had specified that wifi was included. We were also informed that it would take 48 hours to be fixed. This seemed like a long period, and meant that we only had access to the internet for the last evening of our stay. We do recognise however that this was somewhat out of the host's control, and so were able to reconcile with this problem.
Finally, we felt that our trip was tainted by our welcome. Roughly a week prior to our stay Mariaflavia informed us that she would not be available during the day of our check-in, so we would have to check in after 6.00 pm. Although this was not ideal, as we had already booked our train to arrive at 11.00 am, we felt that this was acceptable, as we were informed that we could leave our luggage at the apartment. However, just a few days before we arrived, we were told that we could no longer drop our bags. The host told us to leave them at the train station storage facility, which would cost €5 per bag. When we arrived, the cost was in fact €8 per bag. With four bags, and as students on a budget, this was a significant and unnecessary charge, that we would have to pay through no fault of our own. Thus, we decided to ask Mariaflavia to cover the fee, as her online description had said check-in and check-out was 'flexible'. We had shown considerable flexibility in checking in at 6.00 pm, but felt that this extra cost, inconvenience and loss of half a days accommodation was taking advantage. Mariaflavia agreed to cover half of the cost, but was not welcoming and highly patronising when we arrived, leaving us feeling uncomfortable. Further to this, check out was by no means flexible either, as we were informed that we had to vacate by 10.00 am. Although we could leave our luggage for a couple of hours, we had to clear our room and be out of the apartment promptly to allow for cleaning.
On the whole, we were left feeling let down by a somewhat inaccurate listing, and a welcome that left a lot to be desired.