We enjoyed our stay in Florence - the apartment is in a good location south of the river with plenty of nice places to eat nearby.
Eduardo and Michela gave us some really good recommendations to help us get the most out of our trip.
Unfortunately the apartment didn’t live up to expectation (we have shared the below feedback with the owners but have not had a reply in over a week):
1. There was a strong smell of damp or stale water from an old mop under the sink - we couldn’t quite shift the smell despite airing the flat a lot
2. The toilet seat had faeces on it which I had to clean myself
3. There were no washing up sponges or soap to clean the dishes/kitchen area (and some dishes were covered in oil in the cupboards)
4. The floors felt dusty and unclean
Overall it didn’t feel very clean so we bought sponges and washing up liquid, then cleaned the entire flat (including all surfaces and floors by hand). This was probably a bit extreme but the colour of the sponges proved it was worth the effort.
I’m sure most people would enjoy staying in the apartment - for me, I would have been more relaxed knowing the plates I’m eating off and floors I’m walking on are clean (especially if the cleaning fee is £50+)
The apartment is also more worn than the photos suggest - for example the shower screen was partly broken and replaced by a curtain (it looked like this has been in place for some time).
This is not intended to be a bad review, we did enjoy our stay but we are unlikely to return to the apartment again should we return to Florence.