Our stay at this apartment was probably the least pleasant Airbnb experience we have ever had. And we have stayed in a number of Airbnb’s all over the world. I traveled to Florence with my husband, 3 year old daughter, mother and mother in law who were both in their 60s. The mothers were definitely not happy. Pietro and Gaia’s apartment is conveniently located close to the center of Florence. We were minutes away from the main sights, shops and good restaurants of the city. With our party of 4 adults and 1 toddler with a stroller, this was very important to us as we didn’t want to walk too far to these places. However being in the centre of a medieval city means that the apartment is located in an old building. While full of character, it was also old, hence not as comfortable as more modern buildings. The apartment is located at the top of the 3 story building and had a tiny elevator that leads directly to it. However it was only large enough to fit 2 adults at a time and was definitely challenging to bring luggages (which we did one at a time) and our stroller up and down. It requires the use of a key which means I had to control the elevator and bring my daughter, husband, mother and mother in law up and down, one at a time. Getting into the apartment initially was challenging (using WiFi which was not strong enough from outside). Although we followed the instructions given us which wasn’t that clear, we were still unable to get in so they had to let us in remotely as they weren’t staying in Florence at the time. Once we were able to get in and have access to the keys it was fine. The worst part was, on our first night coming home from dinner, as my husband was trying to open the front door, the key broke. With the front light and the foyer light area that night not working (power trip), we struggled to call Pietro in the darkness with my 3yo, who was tired and scared. We were not able to reach him for quite awhile. It was 8.30pm. When he finally called back, we had a bit of an argument as he was saying it’s our fault. I just begged him to just help us as all of us were stuck outside in total darkness, tired with a screaming toddler. He finally arranged for a locksmith to come at 9.30pm, an hour later. Once the locksmith was done prying the broken key out of the lock, he wanted to charge us €300! Pietro assured us over the phone that this is normal which we frankly found it hard to believe. But given the circumstances - 4 exhausted adults and a sleeping toddler in the cold in an unfamiliar surrounding where we didn’t speak the language, we had little choice. So we asked Pietro to help us negotiate and he got the price down to €220 and we negotiated to split it. But Pietro and Gaia said they will only pay €80 (via Airbnb credit) and we had to pay the rest. While we were still uncomfortable with the whole arrangement we didn’t have much of a choice. On to the apartment itself, and as I said, it is old. It’s a 2.5 story duplex apartment with all the bedrooms upstairs (with attached bathrooms). The stairs were very tiny and we didn’t want to risk carrying up the heavy suitcases so we had to park them all in the living room downstairs instead and take what we need into our rooms. It was also a bit of risk for my 3yo so we had to be extra careful bringing her up and down. Our mothers struggled as well and were definitely unhappy. This wasn’t clearly explained in the description of the apartment so please be aware. While it was kept very clean and tidy, the apartment was very dark at night and has this weird smell. The upper bathrooms were too small for our mothers who shared one room, while our bathroom had a very bad clogged shower drain on the first morning. So while the water did drain eventually, all of us decided to use the bathroom downstairs. So 4 adults, and one toddler took turns sharing one bathroom, going up and down 2.5 storeys, everyday. Plus the hairdryer in one of the rooms wasn’t working, instead of hot air it blows out cool air and the nozzle was broken. A lot of the furnitures are quite old too. One of the chairs which has wheels underneath actually broke when my 45kg mother in law set on it. Screws and nails came off but we couldn’t find all of them as the apartment was dark. My 3yo daughter found one nail and was playing with it in the morning. Highlighted this to Pietro and he only said ‘that’s unfortunate’. Our conclusion was that it has a good location but the apartment itself was very underwhelming. If character is what you are after then go ahead. But if you want a more pleasant experience, then this is not it. The quality of the amenities - shower, stairway, lighting, elevator etc - left a lot to be desired, at least for us. If you’re staying here, best not to have children or people with knee problems with you and pack light. Pros: - Great location - Value for money given the size and location - Elevator direct to the apartment - Attentive hosts Cons: - Old building - Poor lighting - Tiny stairway in the apartment - Small bathrooms - Questionable plumbing - Tiny and old elevator - You most probably have to pay for the wear and tear of the apartment during your stay like our situation with the key, or just live with it like the clogged bathroom and broken chair. We didn’t receive any compensation...