Staying at Luca's Ponte Vecchio apartment on the 3rd floor of the Manelli Tower was fantastic. Luca, Alessandro and Clementina were very accommodating, and made us feel very welcome. The apartment has a great view up the Arno to the east. There is no view to the west, but what there is of interest is a little strange window that looks down on Ponte Vecchio, bringing up the chiachiare of the street, which I personally enjoyed. What's really special, however, is the reason there is no true window on the east side for a very cool historical reason: the Vassari corridor literally wraps around the apartment!

The kitchen is a great thing to have, and the grocery store down at the corner (Sapori di Contadini, I think) made this stretch of the trip much more affordable as well.

now for some constructive criticism: The bed was comfortable enough for me (I am a camper though), but the team might want to consider upgrading it, as it might have been through a few too many guests. Also, visiting in the winter, if you are perhaps from a more southern clime, the apartment can get pretty cold at times, and takes a while to heat up. Just be aware of this, and turn the heat up (the dial is backwards, so turn it counterclockwise). Also, if you are not use to these older style doors, they can be a trick; you need to kind of muscle them to get them to open.