Francesca and her place are the star of Italy! Francesca made a large effort to coordinate with us before our arrival by train to Florence. We walked the 15+ minutes to her place from the train terminal and she was waiting for us there.
When she showed us into the place it wasn't more compartmentalized than I expected. The pictures made it seem more open, but I've learned that there's no such thing in your average european home.
Despite my presumption of what it would look like, Francescas place is incredibly nice.
The kitchen is quaint, but incredibly efficient, with a washer for clothes hidden in a cupboard. Everything is very modern, like you're at a model kitch in IKEA.
The living room is small, but it acted more like a staging room for us to come and go.
The bedroom is very nice and pretty good size. The bed is comfortable, and everything was very clean. The bathroom was a good size, super modern, and very clean. Additionally, the vanity is stocked with anything you might forget. My girlfriend was excited to see a blow dryer for her hair.
What sets this place apart though is Francesca. Upon entering the place she pulled out a map of the town and went through it with us. Including where to visit, what times are best to visit certain places, good places to eat, and more.
After she left she kept in contact with us when we needed her with very little response time. At one point the wifi went out and I saw a woman, I think her sister, in the hall and told her about it. In 10 minutes it was reset and the woman knocked on the door to see if it worked again.
The neighborhood is very quiet, and its only a 5 minute walk from Ponte Vecchio. Florence is LOADED with restaurants, and we didnt find one place nearby that wasnt really good for a moderate price. It's also 10+ minutes from every major attraction in the city, and there's TONS of shopping in between.
Also, I felt like the place is just on the edge of the tourist heavy parts of the city. So the restaurants aren't overly priced, and feel more authentic since they aren't trying to appeal to the tourists. You feel like you're out of the way, but not too out of the way.
All in all, this is the only place I've stayed in while in Europe that I would actually live in, and if Im ever back in Florence, this is the ony place I'll be staying.