We expected trouble when the circuit box was the first thing the agent showed us on the tour of this apartment. We were taught to flip the switch up when the power goes out. We were then informed that we would not be able to use the washer together with the AC as it’ll overload the circuit. During the tour, the power went out once and in the half hour after it happened twice more. Throughout the stay, the power would go out an average of thrice a day.
The worst happened on the night before we checked out: the power went out and the electricity wouldn’t turn back on even when we flipped the switch in the circuit box up. We contacted Teona (agent) and thankfully she responded even though it was late at night. She contacted the host then called us back saying the owner would have to decide whether to send electrician down or to visit the apartment in person. We never heard back. The power resumed and we messaged her to inform her of the development. 25 minutes had passed since we first got in touch with her on the issue. 25 minutes in complete darkness without power, when we ought to be cleaning up and packing for check out the next day.
Over the course of the stay, we also made contact with the agent several times, and noted that updates on our questions would not be provided unless chased, and if we asked multiple questions, only one would be answered.
We made contact with Airbnb requesting for a partial refund but were told it was not possible as we had checked out. The explanation provided by the host was that there was a cap on electricity supply imposed on the entire neighbourhood. That wrote off the mental stress we endured over the entire stay. We had to ration electricity for fear that the power would go out while we were in the showers, or while we were doing laundry. Every night we had to pray that the AC would stay on so the summer heat wouldn’t smother us. It was as though an axe was suspended over us and we were constantly holding our breaths waiting for it to fall. The lack of empathy shown by the host/ agent/ owner added to the negativity of our experience. There were so many layers that we did not know who and couldn’t reach the real decision maker who could help us with our plight.
To be fair the apartment was well located, though Florence historic centre is small and most POIs are walking distance apart. Apartment was clean and having three en-suites was great. Take note that the apartment is extremely cramped and one of the photos showing the corridor with a room at the end with table and chair seems to be inaccurate: they have opened the doors to another (subdivided?) apartment that’s also used as an Airbnb.
We note the positive reviews on this apartment and recognise that this could be a decent stay in normal times, but do not expect any help if anything goes wrong.