Pros and Cons
Pros : Location, Location, Location - building has an elevator which is HUGE in florence - in the center of everything! Views in the apartment are spectacular - good communication with management company
Cons: Upon arrival only given 5 mins walk thru of place - the check-in was more concerned with getting my signature on the contract than walking me through all the nuances of the apartment. This apartment is run by a management company - I prefer the more personal approach when renting directly from an owner.
Hot water : went off 3x when we were staying there for 3 nights - We had to have a maintenance person come the first few hours we were there to show us how to turn on. It is a good thing we were able to meet the maintenance worker at the apartment to learn the procedure so we did not have to waste too much time when the second and third time occurred.
Keys : DO NOT leave a key on the inside lock when you leave the apartment - it tricks the lock not being able to come back into the apartment once the door closes. We learned this the hard way - fortunately we were able to get in touch with the management company quickly and they got a locksmith to us within an hour. A VERY stressful hour i might add. When the locksmith showed up, he brought an xray film and opened the door - clearly this issue had existed prior and would have appreciate a thorough walk thru on the keys and doors so the stress of the situation could have been avoided.
Work in the building : we were not notified of the work int he building and had a very noisy first day / evening in the apartment - lots of banging for 4 hours upon arrival.