We had a FANTASTIC stay at Gloria's beautiful apartment. We didn't want to leave!
The apartment has been recently refurbished to an extremely high standard and was just to our taste. Couldn't have been nicer! It is spacious, spotlessly clean, private and quiet. The most you will hear is your neighbour playing jazz on the piano or sax - which was wonderful.
We wanted for nothing - Gloria had thought of everything you could need and it feels just like a home. She even brought us a local paper to read and thought of things for us to do in the rain.
It rained most of the time we were in Florence - but we loved the apartment so much that we were more than happy to spend two of our three nights drinking wine and eating snacks at home! One night we took Gloria's advice and brought back a takeaway pizza from a place down the road with pink neon signage called Pizza Santa Maria. You MUST try this place. The simple mozzarella with garlic and oregano was probably the best pizza we've ever eaten (and we eat a LOT of pizza).
The bed is a good size and so comfortable; the bedroom has very quiet and effective air conditioning, so we slept really well the whole time.
The location is a little out of town (which we wanted) and in a quiet neighbourhood. Gloria showed us the bus stop very close by - you purchase the bus tickets from the tobacco shop down the road. You can walk to town but we found it a little far, so it's well worth the bus, especially if it's very hot or raining. But walking back at night is lovely and atmospheric.
General tip for Italy:
If you're new to Italy (like we were) we would suggest learning some basic Italian phrases. Everyone (including Gloria) speaks good English, but we hated not being able to speak any Italian! It adds to the experience and you'll feel part of the city more if you can be confident in some basics.
In summary, if we return to Florence we will definitely stay at Gloria's again - no question.
Thank you for an amazing stay!
Hannah and Jon