This place is highly rated amongst travelers for obvious reasons as stated, great views of the Duomo.
Personally for me, I disliked the stay of 2 nights. Whilst the advertisement does state that the balcony ‘is not exclusive’ in terms of use, I was not aware of just how non exclusive it is. There is a hotel B&B on level 2 in the building. All the guests have access to the rooftop balcony and as the reviews state the view is amazing which means you have a lot of people on the balcony. My girlfriend and I were hoping for the romantic experience that the advertisement suggests but it was the complete opposite.
When we arrived there were constantly people on the balcony taking photos. We were hoping to open a bottle of wine and watch the Duomo and sunset, however first night other hotel guests had already taken the viewing spots.
Next day we were awoken early to the sound of people talking and drilling or hammering. It was workmen and what I later discovered was the owner of the hotel on Level 2. There would have been 10 people on the balcony doing work. I complained to Luca but was advised to close the window and doors to stop the noise and that the balcony is not exclusive.
Turns out the hotel owner was setting up for a party of 50 people with drinks etc. that night I had two pillows between my ears to block the noise, plus the aircon on to try and block the sound of people laughing and talking right outside our door and side window. I managed to fall asleep at 2am. I was assured by the hotel owner earlier in the day that it was just a dinner and would be over by 9.30pm.
The apartment is right next to the entry to the balcony, so if you have the side window open that looks straight into the bathroom, there is zero privacy. People walk into the balcony and immediately look into the window. If you have the front door open people simply walk past and look in.
In my opinion the advertisement needs to be more transparent about the lack of privacy and noise and the host needs to reach an agreement with the hotel about a curfew for rooftop parties and noise.
As a side note there are at least 10 other rooms on this level, so I suspect in summer it will get even busier. We had people staying next door to us and you could hear the water being used and noise from their room.
The above is based on my experience for 2 nights. It may well be a once off situation, but I have rated this low based on paying a lot of money for a poor experience and lack of support from the host in resolving the issue.
I hope through this review other travelers will not have this experience and things will change.