Our stay in Nato's apartment was amazing!
We stayed for a month and our experience could not have been better.
We got the opportunity to meet Nato and his wife one day and there were very kind and warm to us. For check-in and check-out we met with Nato's son, Simon, who was extremely welcoming and sweet, and really just made our first-time experience in Florence all the better.
The apartment itself is very spacious, stylish, and well organized. The high wooden ceilings are a great feeling to come home to. The kitchen is extremely well equipped, with many tools for cooking any kind of meal. The fridge is on the smaller side but for us, it was totally fine! The dining area is very open and incredible with a view that is unmatched. We enjoyed how many windows the apartment had and frequently relaxed by looking outside at the view. The bedroom is very modern and comfortable. There is no A/C and like any European city, Florence gets very hot. We are used to this kind of heat so it was not an issue for us. We found keeping the windows closed through the night plus during the early day and having the fans on, then opening the windows later on to allow wind inside is helpful in maintaining a cooler feeling in the apartment.
The location is absolutely perfect. Right at Santa Croce, which is extremely safe at any time of day, with a fresh market nearby and many grocery stores. Everything such as Ponte Vecchio, Santa Maria del Fiore, and other plazas are very close by walking distance, making the apartment a great location. Florence is the perfect place to stay to travel also to other cities and places around Italy as it is very central and train tickets to places such as Siena or Cinque Terre are inexpensive. The main train station Santa Maria Novella is close by with public transport - about 20 or so minutes.
When we have the opportunity to come back to Florence, we without a doubt would stay in Nato's home again. We had the perfect memorable experience, and by the end of our trip, we felt like locals who had lived in Italy for years.