Firstly, I want to say that this is a good flat with a great location - clean, spacious, modern and good wifi. A smooth and early check in arranged with a nice guy called Tommy. I didn't meet Alessandro but he was still the main point of contact and responded to all queries - he did this quickly which is appreciated.

A promising start but sadly the overall experience for me slipped downhill from there.

Several things contributed to my disappointment, but the BIG issue for me was living in a freezing home for 4 nights - something which remained unresolved during my stay with no concrete solution offered by my host.

The apartment was ice cold when I arrived (naturally this was low season so expected it to be colder but this was FREEZING). I mentioned that the wall heaters only came on intermittently and were actually not warming up the place at all. I figured it may be the settings so I bought a hot water bottle, and slept in several layers and spent my first night shivering! Alessandro sent Tommy round to have a look when I was out, confirming that the temperature was set to a legal limit by Italian law and the thermostat was at 21 degrees. Ok maybe this is the case but is that the solution? The apartment was still unacceptably cold.

I've recently stayed in 3 airbnb apartments throughout Italy over a and I am a regular visitor to beautiful Florence. Nearly all my rentals have been good. I had a similarly cold apartment in Milan a few days ago but the kind hosts went out of their way to provide blankets and an extra heater - so there are always ways around the problem). I requested an extra heater from Alessandro, as well as an iron & kettle - sadly these simple requests were unmet. The minor things were less important, but heater was a necessity which was not provided.

I was working during my stay therefore planning to be in the apartment for some hours daily. In the end the low temperatures indoors were so unbearable that I spent a lot of my time hunting the city looking for places to sit and work - and a lot of energy was invested in just trying to stay warm. As I was not on holiday, this just ate into my work time.

I'd read such good reviews about Alessandro and his property before booking, so it's a real shame that I felt let down on this occasion.

I still showed respect for his property and left everything in good order.