I was on a week-long Thanksgiving (late-November) ‘workcation’ in Italy, and I chose Florence as the place I would be working remotely for three days out of my trip.
Michele was a great host, communicative, and responsive. My train was delayed by 90 minutes and he patiently waited for me to arrive.
Location: Excellent! It was just an 8-10 minute walk from the train station. Mercato Centrale was just two blocks away, a five minute walk, and I went there several times to have a quick bite to eat during my lunch break. I would also call the area very international, lots of residents from around the world and so there were also many ethnic restaurants. The city center is not large and so it always takes less than 20 minutes to walk to all the popular destinations. Duomo - 7 minutes. Academia - 7 minutes. Uffizi - 18 minutes.
Apartment: Wonderful! The place is tastefully furnished and spacious. I think it’s even a little large for two people.
It is on the third floor (Americans = fourth floor) and the stairs are a little narrow, if you have mobility issues, it can be a challenge. However, since it’s on the top floor, there’s lots of natural light that comes into the apartment, which was great to have while I worked.
The bedroom is in the loft and the bed was comfortable and the sheets and blankets were comfortable and kept me warm. When you close the shutters, the room is dark and very little sunlight comes through in the morning.
The bathroom was clean and had lots of places to store items. The water takes a little to get hot since a water heater heats it but once it does, it’s very hot. I also liked that it was an interior bathroom because it keeps the room warm after a shower as opposed to having a potentially drafty window.
The apartment is heated with radiators and I felt a little cold at night (it was 45°F - 55°F while I was there). I think there’s a way to increase the temperature and I would expect Michele to increase it as it gets colder during the winter.
The WiFi connection was strong and the internet was fast, it lagged a little when I had my VPN on and was on a Zoom meeting but otherwise no other issues.