Anita apartment….Florence, Italy October 27 - November 17, 2022
First impressions. The apartment is located one block from Santa Maria Novella Cathedral on the first floor (one floor above ground level for us Americans) of a building with an elevator. The elevator is from the ground up after 1 step and was great for getting those heavy suitcases up to the apartment. Upon arrival at the door, I called Mamo to be buzzed into the building. The keys were located in a combination lock box just outside the apartment door and the lady will tell you the combination. From then on you have a key to unlock the front door to the building. Make sure you have a phone you can place a call on to get into the building and have Mamo’s phone number on you.
The pros of the apartment:
For being located in the historic district, it is remarkably large. I think it’s advertised as 110 sq. meters which equates to about 1,000 sq. ft. The kitchen is decent size, the dining table is huge, the living room is a nice size as well as both bedrooms. The bathrooms are large, especially the one in the master suite. While the shower in the 2nd bath is a little on the smaller side it is perfectly acceptable. The master shower is very large. Both have rain shower heads coming from the ceiling and hand held shower heads on the wall. Both bathrooms have very large tubs.
The kitchen is pretty modern with a gas cooktop, an oven, a toaster and a full size fridge & freezer. There is a mocha pot and an electric kettle to heat water/make coffee/tea. It is lacking in some areas which I will get to in the cons section of this review. They did leave a small basket of instant coffee, tea bags, olive oil in small packets, salt, sugar, etc. which I thought was a nice gesture. There is an ok assortment of pots, pans, utensils, etc. It should be possible to cook a meal here.
There are 3 mini split AC units. One in each bedroom plus one in the living/dining area. Heating is via radiators but we haven’t needed heat. Or AC for that matter. The weather has been beautiful during our stay.
The bed linens are nice and white.
There really is a washer AND a dryer! A former reviewer stated that it took hours to sort of dry their clothes. You have to realize dryers are different here. It would be nearly impossible to run an exhaust vent through the solid stone walls of a centuries old building. Instead, the dryer has a containment compartment to catch the moisture coming out of your clothes. It’s in the upper front left corner of the dryer. It pulls out like a drawer and looks like the detergent dispenser on a front loading washer. You take it completely out and dump the water out. I emptied probably close to 2 gallons of water as it was completely full when we got here.
The master bath has a baby changing table which is thoughtful. If you don’t have a baby it serves well as a storage place with pull out baskets underneath.
A couple of other reviews have said the apartment was dirty or had a bad odor. We haven’t found that to be the case at all. One specifically mentioned an odor coming from the washer. Because of that I brought an Afresh tablet to clean the washer. I didn’t notice a smell but ran it through anyway. With front loaders it’s best to leave the door cracked open to avoid mildew growing inside. Yes, the shower grout could use a good scrubbing but what grout doesn’t? And it does not smell of mold or anything else for that matter. It’s really not bad. Yes, there are a few smudges or chips in the paint here and there. Probably from people rolling suitcases through here and not being careful. I’ve noticed only a few small spots on the sofa.
The cons of the apartment:
The pretty light fixture over the dining table does not work at all. It needs new bulbs. It’s a shame they don’t replace them and would be an easy fix.
You should plan to get to the grocery store shortly after arrival. The nearest grocery is Pam Local which is located about a block off Piazza Santa Maria Novella. They did leave us a starter supply of toilet paper which is appreciated. There are no paper towels, napkins or tissues at all. Someone left a few dishwasher tabs and I packed a few myself but don’t plan on them being there. There are no spare trash bags and no instructions on what to do with the trash. Later on we messaged Mamo and were advised we could take trash for disposal to Santa Maria Novella Piazza where there are receptacles to drop it in. Edit: There is one receptacle in the Piazza and it seems to be for glass only. We ended up carrying our trash to Piazza San Lorenzo where there are numerous receptacles for different kinds of trash. There were a few sample size packets of shampoo but no body wash or soap at all. Also, no wash cloths which is typical and I have learned to bring a couple of old ones from home and then trash them when leaving.
I don’t understand why they would have zero drinking glasses! There are NONE! You have a choice of a small coffee cup or a small wine glass to drink from. That’s it! Why? It can’t be that expensive to provide some drinking glasses. I just find it annoying and unnecessarily stingy on their part. On the other hand, the countertop filtered water cooler is a nice touch. I just don’t understand providing that and not some other things that are more expected. There are no ice cube trays other than the one I brought