Silvia’s place is amazing in pretty much every way. I stayed there for a month from mid-September to mid-October with my adult daughter so I was able to really get to know the place and the area.
First, the location. It’s in an area of Firenze that is so convenient to everything, but without being in the middle of the touristy / crowded area. The sights, such as the Duomo, Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio, etc. are all within a 10-15 minute walk. In addition, the place is a few blocks from the river (great for walking or bike riding), a few blocks from the Santa Croce (great for people watching), a few blocks from the Sant’Ambrogio market (local outdoor market for produce, clothes, cheese/meats, etc. - highly recommend it), and right across the street from one of the best bakeries in all of Firenze. It’s also convenient to grocery stores (a smaller PAM is a couple of blocks away and a much bigger COOP is about a ten-minute walk away). It’s also close to so many restaurants, bars, other bakeries, and just a couple of blocks away is a street with some great places for outdoor, inexpensive apertivo. There is also a really cool bar in an old converted jail just around the corner that has musicians (we saw an Italian rock band). Oh, it’s also within walking distance (about 1-1.5 miles) to a large concert hall (saw an American band there) as well as the soccer stadium (caught a couple of games there). I also walked to/from the two major train stations in town which were about 1-1.5 miles away. Oh, and I forgot to mention that since it’s close to the river, it’s also close to the other side of the river where there are gardens, the Pitti Palace, a fort, and other sites that you may want to see.
If you don’t feel like walking, there is a bus stop literally right out the door that serves two lines (C2/C3) as well as another one a block away that serves even more bus lines. These were convenient when I wanted to get to the airport with luggage. There are also “Citi” bikes (usually available within a short distance) that we took on the bike paths up and down the river, around the “loop,” and through some of the parks on the other side of the river.
As far as the apartment goes, it too was great. For a city apartment, it was really big and spacious. The master bedroom is separated from the rest of the bedrooms (kitchen and family room in between) so there was lots of privacy for me and my daughter and we didn’t feel like we were on top of each other. We also did work/calls while we were there, and two of the bedrooms had desks which made it really easy to get work done while we were away. The wifi is great, even with both of us on video calls at the same time. The kitchen is big as well, especially for an apartment, and there is a table with four chairs plus two leaves to extend it as well as a counter peninsula with stools. And, the whole place is really clean, modern, and has everything you might need while away from home. The three bathrooms (each with a shower) was a big plus too as was the washer, dryer and dishwasher!
The only downside of the place was that down the street is a bit noisy with people, especially on Friday and Saturday nights when many congregate outside at a bar down the street. We ended up sleeping with the windows closed - the place is pretty soundproof when you do that and it wasn’t hot at all at night, so it wasn’t a problem for us at all. There is air conditioning which we didn’t use, but if you’re worried about closed windows, that is an option. Also, note that the place is up three flights of stairs without an elevator, so it’s not good for those with mobility issues.
Finally, Silvia was great. She communicated really well and even offered to help me out with an Amazon delivery when I was having trouble with getting my package. She was an awesome “landlord.”
Overall, this was one of the best Airbnb’s I’ve stayed in and I would highly recommend it!