What *didn't* we love about this apartment? In a quiet neighborhood of mostly locals, convenient walking distance from the restaurants & shops of the Oltrarno district, and also still walkable to the river and across it into the bustling main tourist attractions.
We arrived earlier than expected, and Chiara immediately offered to let us check in early, which was so accommodating. We met Chiara's representative Miss Lavini at the apartment, and she gave us the tour and pointed out many places we should try in the area. She was absolutely right about the gelato — La Carraia was the best we tried (and we visited at least four different places during our week there.) The printed guide that was provided helped us plan our week and find some hidden gems not mentioned in our travel books.
Additional pros:
- Well-appointed kitchen
- Super comfortable bed!
- Air conditioning, which was KEY because it was very hot that week.
- Beautiful hotel-style bathroom, with a superb shower, double sinks and a WASHING MACHINE. We so appreciated being able to put a load of laundry in toward the end of our stay, to freshen up some of our clothes.
- There is a grocery store around the corner, which was super helpful.
- There is a bakery just down the street, Pasticceria Buonamici, which we discovered on our second to last day of our visit. Don't make the same mistake as we did! Go there on the first day, and you might find that you'll want to start every day there. The women who work there are so lovely, and the cantucci (biscotti) are revelatory.
- So many maps & travel books! Seriously, there were piles of them. Don't worry if you forget your own.
A couple of points worth noting:
- We wish we had a couple more adapters available for the outlets. We found one in the bathroom, which we used religiously throughout the trip to hook up our travel chargers. We found a couple more that we couldn't get to work, but that might just be our unfamiliarity with the varied Italian outlets.
- We were given one key for the apartment door, which meant that if one person was going out and the other stayed behind, you had to lock them in (and as far as we could tell, there isn't a way to get *out* once you're locked in.) It wasn't usually a problem since it was just the two of us and we came in/out of the apartment together, but might be worth noting if you're staying with more people.
Overall, probably our best experience in an Airbnb so far! I think we'd sooner change our travel dates than try to stay somewhere else, if we have the chance to visit Florence again. Thank you for helping us have such a wonderful stay!