The Santa Croce apartment in Florence has the potential to be really great as it is in an amazing location and the views from the rooftop terrace cannot be beat! Unfortunately, we encountered numerous safety, sanitation, and service issues during our stay that ruined the experience. I normally not one to post reviews (especially if negative) but this was truly the worst experience I've ever had traveling or with any hospitality company. Keep in mind this property is managed by a management company and not a host directly, so there are many ways for things to go wrong and for one entity to point the finger at another... When we first arrived on a Saturday evening someone named Max who was very nice from Apartments Florence (management company) met us to check us in. During this process we signed a contract that stated that at the end of our visit they would calculate our utilities cost. We asked why him several different ways why this is done and confirmed that we are not on the hook for paying these costs. Max explained that Airbnb pays the utilities and that the guests do not pay. We asked him again - do we pay Airbnb and then they pay the utilities? He said no, it is only between the host and Airbnb. In retrospect, we never should have signed the contract without additional clarity as this was confusing and seemed to contradict what was written, but we trusted Max and took him for his word. Ultimately we found out from Airbnb that the guest is indeed on the hook for the utilities cost in this property. Consider this when booking especially in hot summer months as it increased the total cost of our stay by over 12%. Keep in mind that while the utilities were expensive, the AC unit upstairs didn't make an impact. In fact, we were never able to get the upstairs area, which includes a bedroom below 29.5 degrees C or 85 degrees F. Once we started to settle in and unpack we noticed that the entire apartment was filthy. The rugs were covered in layers of debris, hair, dirt, etc. all over the floors and rugs, the bedding (blankets and sheets) were covered in blood and hair, the couch had large stains, the walls were terribly scuffed, the upstairs windows leading out to the terrace were damaged and cracked, there were leaves (?), dirt, and little black hairs all over the bathroom floors, there was a wall covered with mosquitos in the master bedroom bathroom, and so on. Immediately we contacted Apartments Florence to ask that they send someone out to clean, but they said they couldn't send anyone until the following day. We had to sleep with just a single sheet (this was the cleanest option) covering the bed the first night and no blankets. We also notice that many of the furniture items are different than what are shown in the pictures or in very bad condition (e.g., table is covered in scratches, couch stained, rugs stained, etc.). Normally I am willing to overlook such things but the entire apartment looked beaten down and like it hadn't been maintained in a while, which is not really what you expect when you book something like this. The next day someone from a cleaning company arrived and he spent an additional 3 hours cleaning the apartment since we discovered it was not cleaned prior to our arrival. This was a bummer but at this point we are determined to still enjoy our stay and want to be patient and work with Apartments Florence to remedy the situation. The next night the WiFi goes out (it had been spotty in and out since our arrival), the AC still isn't making an impact upstairs, which has made for an uncomfortable 2 days, and there is a water leak in the laundry room. Upon discovering the water leak, I immediately reach out to Apartments Florence, but they do not respond. At this point I am panicking because I don't know what to do and am worried about damage to the property. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday night so nobody was working and nobody responded to our request until the next day (Day 3). Now it is Monday morning and we are growing tired of all the issues with this property. I submit a ticket to Airbnb asking for help, which prompts Apartments Florence to respond. They send a manager out to the property and he confirms the issues that we've raised including the fact that the furniture is missing and some items need to be replaced. He says "I agree with all of your concerns and we are on the same page... I am sorry we did not get it right the first time". He also agrees to replace the soiled rugs and to send someone over to address the insect issues, water leakage (replace a part that keeps the water level and prevents water from overflowing the tank), and re-paint.... the place looks so bad they have to REPAINT it while we are there. The net of it is - we were in Florence on vacation and we are frustrated by all the interruptions and the fact that we had service people (contractors, painters, cleaning crew) in and out of what is supposed to be our vacation home for the first 72 hours (we stayed there for a week). I'm not saying that Apartments Florence didn't try to remedy the situation by cleaning, re-painting, etc., but for the first several days the apartment was unclean and unsightly and it was not the experience one expects when they're paying top dollar to spend a week in Florence on vacation in "premium" apartment. Worse than that we also spent many hours on the phone with Airbnb/Apartments Florence and sending emails, texts, WhatsApp messages, etc. to provide documentation, which was time we could have spent exploring the wonderful things Florence has to offer.