Gabriella is excellent in her response time prior to check in and throughout my 2 month stay. Plus, the women who assist her by checking us in when above and beyond by accommodating us with late arrival check in...almost midnight and one time when I locked myself out, she arrived within minutes to let me in. however, Andrea has the 2nd set of keys and there is not a 3rd set which made it difficult when I had my friends stop in for a weekend.
I was taught in the military to sandwich criticism between to compliments...so here are the disappointment in my stay which are reflective of the 3 stars.
- the A/C was broken (during near record setting temperatures in Florence) and Gabriella knew about this. The apartment was dreadfully hot at check in, so I asked Andrea to show me how the A/C unit works. The fan was broke, so cool air only trickled out of the unit which is a split unit (meaning no A/C in the bedrooms downstairs). When Andrea phone Gabes to ask about this, she stated the repairman was to be there the week prior but ended up in the hospital and will not be out until later that week. I patiently gave it 2 days of barely sleeping in the heat downstairs and I called Gabes. She said the man was not out of the hospital yet and suggested I called around to find another repairman. Perhaps, it was lost in translation, but once she put her daughter on the phone, I informed her that I was in school everyday and did not have time to find a repairman, plus, I do not speak Italian. She concurred and said she would call around to find someone. The next day a repairman came out and it was fixed (intake vent on back patio was caked with dust/dirt and needed cleaned). My QUESTION is WHY during blazing hot heat would you not have your A/C unit fixed prior to a 2 month guest's arrival and let them know it is NOT working. I arrived 2 days past my check in date so she had plenty of time from her last guest which she said was earlier in the month.
- there was NO toilet paper in either bathroom. I had to get tissues from my car to use until morning when stores opened
- there was NO dish soap, shampoo or hand soap in downstairs bathroom
-the beds were not made up as in the photos. I used my own sheets that I brought because I like flannel all year long
-caution the hot water is an off/on issue, so once you get your temperature right for shower, it will go ice cold on you then scalding hot
-the bedrooms are downstairs. So, if you are a light sleeper, you will hear every person coming and going through front wrought iron gate in 2nd bedroom. And in main bedroom you will hear every person leaving in their cars from the complexes parking area. Plus, they are tiny windows near the ceiling. No, breeze comes in due to back patio prevents airflow and in 2nd bedroom the security wall prevent good airflow too
-the pocket WiFi had an old chip and Gabes thought I burned though her data in 19 days, but I did not. I was without WiFi for 10 days until her month reset. then is still DID NOT work. finally, she replaced the chip, but I had to purchase more data on my plan to do school work (out over $50)
-there are NO City Views from apartment, kind of hard from a street/basement level apartment
-there are NO Garden Views, just a view of the parking lot for the complex from patio.
-the patio does not look anything like the pictures, I had not been cleaned in probably months. I swept up, to keep from tracking dirt inside and from getting on my laundry.
-the shower head in the upstair bathroom was broken, it kept sliding down the pole and the toilet seat was broken too.
-both batteries in TV remotes were dead, I had to go buy them.
Okay, the complement, there is a parking space, but I guess it is only for a few days free, then she has to pay for it. But since she did not word this correctly in her advertisement of apartment, Gabes honored giving me the space at no additional cost.