I was sent a message after the Airbnb was booked saying I needed to contact Francesca to work out the details of my check in. This, to me, was red flag #1 - having to contact someone outside of Airbnb's messaging system. I emailed Francesca telling her the date and time we were expecting to arrive (16:30). She responded saying if she couldn't be there, she would send me her colleague's phone number. We arrived outside of the apartment 5 minutes early and waited about 20 minutes before trying to call, email, and text Francesca with no answer or response. I then messaged the host (Welcome to Rome&Florence) who promptly responded saying she would forward my messages to Francesca. We waited outside with our bags (in the rain) for about 50 minutes until we were finally let inside by a woman named Eleonora who said she had been there since 14:15 - which wasn't true. Eleonora mentioned the "agency" contacts Francesca to greet guests, but she "can't be everywhere at once." There was ZERO communication to me that someone else would be greeting us other than Francesca. The whole check in process was odd and frustrating. The whole time we were waiting I was thinking we were probably scammed, and that we were going to have to scramble to find another place to stay. It was an incredibly long travel day for us, so this was a terrible way to start off our visit to Florence.
The apartment itself was nice, and looks completely updated. It's in a very convenient location, but the streets outside are VERY loud - bring earplugs. There is also no place to put your bags or clothes, so you will be digging out of your suitcase on the floor.
I want to end by saying I NEVER write negative reviews, but the check in process for this Airbnb was awful. I wouldn't want another person to have our experience.