My wife and I recently visited Paolo's apartment in Florence, and had a wonderful time. We decided to book with Paolo based on his positive reviews, and the location of the apartment near Santa Croce. I am so glad we made the right decision!

In many ways, Paolo himself was the highlight of our visit to Florence. He was great about communicating before our arrival, and made arrangements to meet us in person at the airport. To our surprise, he stopped at a local cafe on the drive to the apartment, and treated us to a macchiato and a pastry - much appreciated after an overnight flight. Once at the apartment, he gave us a very thorough tour, showed us how to work the appliances, and had bottled water, fresh fruit, and some snacks in the refrigerator. He was very kind, and offered to drive us to the train station when we departed for Rome. This was a fantastic beginning to our trip.

The apartment itself is really close to everything. This is in part due to the fact that everything in Florence seems to be a 10 minute walk away. We loved the location - from the family-owned trattoria Aquacotta next door (which was fantastic), to Piazza Sant'Ambrogio down the street (which was great for people watching at night), there was no shortage of good food, good coffee, and shopping close by.

The only advice I would offer is bring ear plugs if you stay over a weekend. Italians are known for their appreciation of nightlife, and we definitely noticed street noise on the weekends. It wasn't an issue for us, but without ear plugs the cheers of spirited Italians at 3AM may bother some.

Overall, we were very happy with the apartment, and would highly recommend it to anyone who plans to visit Florence.

I want to also take a moment to share a personal note about Paolo. On the day that we were scheduled to leave Florence for Rome, Paolo gave us a ride to the train station. Before we departed for the station, he once again treated us to an espresso and pastry, and took us on a brief drive around the outskirts of Florence. You can tell he is very proud of his heritage, and his city. Upon arriving at the station, it became apparent that I had misread the train ticket, and we had missed our scheduled train. Paolo took off running for a train headed to our destination to try and catch it for us. When that didn't work, he ran to the customer service counter and spoke in Italian with the rep about our situation. He was able to get us a new ticket issued at no cost, and really saved us from what could have been a horrible situation.

If you have any reservations about traveling abroad - I cannot say enough about Paolo. He is a fantastic host, and will make your trip to Florence a memorable one.