Overall, we had a lovely stay. The flat is very clean, comfortable and in a great central location.
Check in and check out were extremely easy, and Cosimo allowed us to check in as soon as cleaning was finished so we could drop our bags off. The information about check in and check out was very comprehensive. Leading up to the trip, we had lots of clear and helpful communication, so we felt at ease when we arrived. An information book is provided along with recommendations of food, transport and key needs (E.g ATMs, supermarkets, taxis etc). The only slight issue was at checkout, they ask you to take all your rubbish with you and dispose of them in the recycling and general waste bins on the streets (about 2mins from the flat). This is fine in itself, and it seems that it’s the way it’s done in Florence, but some extra guidance about exactly what to do would have been helpful. We weren’t sure if the recycling could be disposed of in bags, there aren’t adequate bins/space in the flat to separate all the recycling and when we went to drop off the recycling, a collection person told us paper can’t be deposited at these bins and need to be left outside the property. It was just a bit confusing and stressful to do just as we were leaving - probably a case of it being the norm in Italy so not thinking it needs explaining, but more information would have helped.
The location is lovely. It’s about a 4 minute walk from the central market (highly recommend the food court on the 1st floor for amazing Tuscan street food!) and about 12 minutes from the Duomo. This was really convenient. However, do be aware that this location means the street is extremely noisy. Lots of market stall owners wheel their stalls along the street late at night and at sunrise. The windows/walls of the flat are incredibly thin, every single noise outside is heard, like there’s people inside the flat. Fine if you’re a heavy sleeper, but I was awake constantly. I’d recommend to bring earplugs.
The flat itself is extremely clean and comfortable. The bed is comfy too and there’s lots of wardrobe space. The upstairs is a little tight to move around in, with just about enough room to climb into bed from either side. But the downstairs has a lot of space. There is a TV but when we turned it on, it said there was no hdmi connected and there were no channels. Not the end of the world on holiday, but sometimes it’s nice after the long days, and the listing says there’s a TV so we expected it to work.
The bathroom was great. Very good shower, some soap/shower gel provided. Very clean and spacious.
The kitchen was mostly good, and we managed to do most of the cooking we needed to. The only slight issue is that some things were missing/had very little of (E.g only one bowl so one of us had to eat cereal out of a metal mixing bowl, and there’s no oil/salt/pepper as listed). The fridge and freezer are good size and there’s ice cube trays which were a real treat - the water out the tap was quite warm so they helped a lot. Lastly, there could be clearer information about how the gas hobs work. There’s a metal handle in the kitchen that says gas on it, that needs to be turned in a certain way for the gas to work. However, this is not mentioned in the information and as we didn’t know what it was, we were a bit worried about messing around with it and causing an accident. There’s also two different handles so we weren’t sure what they both did. We asked about how to work the gas, but didn’t get a reply for an hour, by which point we were starving so tried the handles and got it working. Of course an hour to reply isn’t bad, but it was the fact that it was a basic requirement to use the kitchen and it prevented us from cooking.
Overall, we did have a really great stay and think it’s excellent value for money, but just some extra information about the flat would have made it more easy and comfortable.