We stayed 4 nights in this 3rd floor apartment and absolutely loved it! All over Italy we saw giant doors and wondered what they opened up to. Well, we now know what was behind one of those giant doors! The location is wonderful and very centrally located-within easy walking distance of the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, Uffizi, Accademia, Oltrarno, and Santa Maria Novella train station, among other sites. But it's also located off the beaten path, on a quiet, safe street full of designer shops and mostly locals. A 5 minute walk in any direction takes you to restaurants, ATMs, shops and newspaper kiosks.

The one bedroom apartment is clean and spacious, with a large, comfortable bed, plenty of closet/drawer space electric outlets, great WiFi and nice bathroom. The living/dining area is large, with lots of windows and expansive views of 2 domes and Giotto's Campanile. The kitchen has a fridge, burner, dishwasher and microwave and Alberto was kind enough to stock it with fruit, some breakfast items, water, juice and milk. It also had all necessary cooking items as well as olive oil, vinegar, spices, etc. The best part for us, though, was the washer, which also had a drying function. There are drying racks, an iron and ironing boards and we were able to clean all of our clothes during our stay without interrupting our sightseeing. Manuals for everything (washer, dishwasher, etc.) are in the apartment in case you need them.

The only drawback was being able to hear street traffic and people in other apartments around us. Some American college students live nearby and we could hear their conversations every night. The apartment must also face another street as we could hear shops opening and closing and Vespa traffic, although our rooftop view obscured our ability to confirm that. We weren't there much during the day and had earplugs with us so we slept fine but something to note if you're really sensitive to noise.

Alberto was a great host and his English is excellent. He doesn't live in the unit, but was responsive to email almost immediately and same for text. We had no trouble reaching him when needed and he communicated well with us prior to arriving in Florence. We had a wonderful stay and would definitely stay at this apartment again when in Florence.