Giacomo made my stay very difficult. I rented his apartment which sleeps 6 in February of 2019 for a 6 week stay starting in October. At the time of rental when asked I answered that I would be the one coming but obviously I rented a two bedroom and two bathroom large apartment because I wanted to invite occasional guests. Unfortunately I did not know Giacomo- he started giving me a hard time from the very beginning because my niece came! He never left extra bedsheets, towels or hangers which would be more than expected for a 6 week stay. When I requested extra hangers and for him to change the terrible pillows ( only two per double beds) that request became an issue. Four weeks into my stay he shows up on a Saturday afternoon with a contract, in Italian, which he pressures me to sign until Monday morning! The contract was for the 6 week rental, was in Italian and mentioned Italian legislation. On Monday he starts to pressure me to sign and return the contract ASAP. I do not sign contracts lightly- I should have been told that there would be a contract and should have been sent the terms when I rented. As such, I told him that I would not sign without knowing what it all meant. I asked the owner of the school where I was studying Italian for help! He phoned his lawyer who reviewed the Italian contract and said that I could sign. He also phoned Giacomo to come to the Instituto in order for me to sign. Giacomo’s behavior at the Instituto was rude towards me and he seemed extremely nervous and out of control. I did ask Airbnb for support but none came! The whole contract issue was mismanaged from the very beginning and the host’s aggressive and rude behavior unwarranted. Moreover, the apartment is terribly noisy and not quiet at all as the description claims ! There is a garage adjoining the apartment which is open until 1 am and people arrive at all hours and you can hear the noise, loud conversation and rowdy behavior . I could not sleep several times because of the noise or even worse, my sleep was interrupted because of the arrival of groups of people talking very loudly and shrieking.
All in all what should have been a wonderful experience became an unpleasant one due to Giacomo’s lack of good manners, stinginess ( I asked for a bread knife and that was thrown back at my face!) and overall lack of experience and manners in dealing with guests. Also, my sister arrived for a short stay, brought her own pillows with her because she has neck issues, those were taken away by Giacomo, who when requested to return them refused to do so!
I do not recommend Filo flat and certainly not Giacomo as a host. I suppose he gets good reviews because the stays are short, but try to stay for a longer period as I did and the whole experience was terrible and I paid one of the most expensive rentals in all of the listings only to be treated rudely by a young and inexperienced host