Wonderful place -- cannot post enough positive comments.
1. Communications: outstanding. Both before and during our stay, the Host responded immediately to any of our inquiries. Additionally, without being pushy, he provided many suggestions -- all of them spot on -- about restaurants (from Michelin starred to neighborhood joints), activities, drivers, tours, etc., etc. This made our pre-trip planning very efficient and resulted in us having to do little outside research on our own. He was way better than Rick Steves.
2. Location: perfect. Within 3 minute walk to Ponte Vecchio, 5-15 minute walk to all of Florence's "tourist" sights/museums, it is located in Oltrarno (what the WSJ calls the hip, "Brooklyn" side of Florence). Surrounded by cafes, restaurants, services (large grocery store 4 minute walk down street) -- expensive/cheap, touristy/non-touristy -- you select the atmosphere you desire (and the Host's tips will accurately guide you).
3. Apartment: excellent. Pictures and description are accurate, but the apartment is better in reality. Super-clean, great kitchen, plenty of room for up to six adults (we had between three to six at different times during our stay as family members arrived/left), and all comforts/appliances expected in a top quality home. The best part was an unbelievable roof top deck patio with breathtaking views -- we enjoyed daily breakfasts and nighttime wine/appetizers on the rooftop deck. As the old part of Florence is typical of many European cities in that you often feel "walled in" while walking around on narrow streets which makes it difficult for one to get orientated to your location, the rooftop view allowed us to get familiar much more quickly with the City's layout/neighborhoods/sites as we could literally see many of the various locations (Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, etc., etc.) which we had just visited or were planning to visit later during our stay.
GREAT experience, will rent again on any return to Florence. Cannot recommend enough.