Simone’s place was essentially a good stay, but several things about it make it difficult to give more than four stars (and that’s being generous. You want two things while traveling in a new country: a comfortable bed to rest on and reliable host for the experience. Both of these things were lacking. Upon check in, we were 30min late due to unreliable transportation (trains were late and buses never appeared at their stops in a major train station). By the time we were able to haul a taxi (damn Florence and their lack of) to Simone’s place, he was unresponsive. We were tired, agitated, and ready to put our very heavy bags down. Not only did we not get any instructions on what to do upon check in, when he finally answered my messages on what to do, he took his time getting back to me. Of course, I called him to get more clear instructions and he actually YELLED at me on the phone “I’M TRYING TO OPEN THE DOOR.” No, please hold on. No, wait I’m trying to open it for you. Just an instant yelling upon picking up the phone. You could imagine my surprise as someone who’s new to the country and have only had great Airbnb experiences. After we finally were able to get into the building (it’s more of a hostel/hotel layout), no one was there to greet us. We didn’t even see anyone until we checked out and met Simone, who I’m sure was only around to make sure we checked our precisely at 10a.
On top of all that, we tested out the beds, of which there were two — something I thought was a great addition — and were ready to cry we were so upset. Have you ever laid on a really old spring couch at your grandma’s where you can feel each and every spring stab your body when you sat down? Imagine that, but worse. My friend and I could not sleep at all throughout the night due to how uncomfortable these beds were. We actually avoided going back early in the night because we didn’t look forward to sleeping on them. And of course, no one was around to help (if they even could). It was terrible.
AND ON TOP OF THAT, the “A/C” that was provided would automatically turn off in the middle of the night so we could never actually cool off. Bad check in, bad beds, bad air con = very angry us.
And last but not least, the provided “toiletries” are literally two single-use bottles of body wash/shampoo combo bottles. That’s it. So please don’t rely on that if you’re traveling without toiletries!
The only positives were:
- clean spaces
- water (although it’s 50¢ on an honor system)
- location
- “amenities” like coffee and a microwave
In my opinion, you could get far better. Don’t stay here.