Ideal location! We felt like we were right in the center of everything. Open the front door of the building and you have EVERYTHING. Amazing shops and restaurants galore, right at your feet. Look out the beautiful windows in the apartment and you're one floor above a main street, with lots of activity. We loved how many windows this place has. It was nice when the breeze would come in. We enjoyed looking out and taking it all in--the vibrancy
of Florence.
We were worried about the street noise but it wasn't a problem for us. Yes, it can get loud outside but we actually appreciated listening to Florence. We didn't mind it during the day whenever we went back to freshen up before heading back out again. The street noise was kind of soothing in a way; I actually took a few catnaps with all the windows wide open. At night before going to bed, we would close the bedroom windows and it would COMPLETELY shut out all the noise. Perfect!
The apartment was better in person. It felt like an actual home. You will feel like a local. We appreciated how spacious it was, too. Very clean and neat. Lavinia was gracious and met us personally at the front door of the building. She seemed lovely and very welcoming. Communication with her was a breeze. She responded quickly to every message. Instructions were clear and we had zero issues with checking in or checking out.
The steps to the door of the apartment weren't bad at all. They aren't steep. It's almost like a brownstone walkup. And we appreciated how there weren't any other apartments on the way to the door of this Airbnb. We never even saw anyone else in the building...like we had it all to ourselves. It felt incredibly safe, inside and outside the building.
The only issue we had:
1.) The shower was tricky, frustratingly so. We could never get a decent shower because the water temperature kept switching on us. When you would finally find the right temp, it would only last seconds before going all hot or all cold. You had to constantly be adjusting it. It was also dangerously crowded and slippery in the shower/tub.
2.) We were given two sets of keys. One particular key to the door of the building gave us a lot of difficulty. Make sure you test it before you walk out because you could be left stranded outside in the middle of the night if you can't get it to work.
3.) This issue is on me, really, because the listing does not have AC as an amenity. I missed that important detail. Unless you have a fan in front of you, it does get pretty warm inside. There were only 2 fans in the apartment. This was June and it can get very warm/hot. Our chocolates melted.