Terrible. Avoid booking. Bed bugs and my complaint was poorly dealt with.
I got badly bitten with big unsightly marks after several days of being there.
I thought it might have been an allergic reaction (though I have never had one before) or hives (which I have also never had before) but am told by a doctor the mostvlikely exolanation is bed bugs.
I messaged Firenze Rentals before 9am to say I had these raised marks (I sent photos) and can they check for bed bugs while I am out? I removed my things from the bedroom, looked at the bed and found a mark on the sheet but nothing else, picked up some antihistamine cream at the nearest pharmacy (they thought it was insect bites) and went to the Uffuzi where I was booked into the tour. I was texted back not long after to say dont worry we will check it all out.
Later I get a text saying someone has been to the apartment and couldnt see any bed bugs and suggested I must have brought them with me! Charming!
Obviously I cant stay somewhere where I wake up covered in bites and although I am not an expert (I had searched while I cleared the bed and didnt see insects but there was a mark in the sheet) but I wasnt happy to be fobbed off. I assumed they were getting a professional to check. I said I wanted to not have my visit to the Uffuzi ruined but I was consulting a doctor and they werent taking this seriously. They then said they would bring an expert in.
So we meet back at the apartment. Of course Firenze Rentals had cleverly delayed bringing the pest person until after midday (I have never had to cancel a trip halfway through and am not an expert on cancellation policies of Airbnb).
I am told he found no bed bugs but I didnt speak to him as I have no italian but all he did was look in crevaces which I had already done. The sofa is dark and could have hidden anything. They said the sheets have no marks. I showed them the spot I had seen on the sheet so neither Firenze rentals nor the expert had even checked as carefully as I did.
I showed him the bite marks on my back and arms and said what else could it be? I had also taken pictures which I had sent Firenze Rentals that morning but reviews dont allow for pictures.
I have since learned that unless they are a huge infestation bed bugs are hard to see. The main evidence is bite marks. No new marks have appeared since I left thank goodness so I am not taking them with me.
I delayed writing a review to make sure they werent somehow in my suitcase.
So what evidence do I have that they were bed bugs when we didnt see any? I am related to a doctor and had sent her pics first thing that morning and we chatted online later that day. She told me she thought bedbug bites was a much more likely diagnosis than hives or an allergy because they appeared in lines on arms and back. And some had small dots like mozzy bites at the centre (not the first one that appeared 3 days before on my wrist). "But they didnt find any?" I said. But she explained "the primary evidence of bed bugs is bites that appear 2 to 14 days after in a bed thats not your own. "
I then booked myself into a new place (taking everything to launderette first to make sure no bugs were in clothes.)
Reading up (I know waaaay too much about the issue now) you need to put everything in a hot drier to ensure all eggs are killed.
I WAS refunded 4 nights (it was a 2 week booking) but not that night because I cancelled after midday.
I think that is unfair and want that night back as compensation for the bites, stress and hassle.
I also feel they didnt take my complaint seriously. Even their so called expert didnt inspect the white sheet carefully enough to see the spot and had to have it pointed out to them!
Hence the terrible review.
I alerted them at 0900. In the future I will know to cancel first ask questions after.
I think it is pretty rude that their text when I was in the Uffuzzi suggested I had brought them (I have never had bedbugs in 30 years of travelling).
Be warned, I have since learned bedbugs bites are not like mosquito bites which you feel and show immediately. The bugs (ugh!) release an analgaesic when they feed and bites typically appear after around 3 days to 2 weeks.
The first bite was 4 days after I arrived on my right wrist. I had no idea what it was and wondered if I had missed a bit when putting on sunscreen and got burned. It wasnt until several nights later that I woke up to about 20 similar patches all over my back and arms. Yuck. That is when I raised the issue.

I have no doubt they will reply saying we checked before your visit and it was bed bug free though they provide me with no written evidence of this. They will also say that we didnt see bed bugs at the apartment when I joined their "expert". I am putting it in quotes because I dont speak italian and was packing up the rest of my stuff.
I found somewhere to stay and then cancelled the booking. When of course I should have cancelled first. But I was kind of in shock to be honest that they werent falling over themselves to help and put it right. I have stayed in a cheap bamboo hut in India for 8 dollars a night which had better customer