If you'd like to pretend you are a queen in a palazzo, then this is the apartment to stay in. First you walk past a thick wood door, then an ornate gate, then a beautiful glass door, and you are in the entrance hall with the majestic spiral staircase to your palace. Inside, the entrance hall is grand with paintings on the ceilings, but the sala rossa with the painting by Gatti on the ceiling makes you feel as if you are living in a museum. I spent many nights just lying on my back, studying the artwork. It is fun to be a detective and try to figure out who everyone is in the painting - just glorious! The giant window/doors open up to a park, and you can sit on the balcony and watch local life in Florence. The furnishings are ornate, as well as the wallpaper, chandeliers - if you enjoy photography, you can take beautiful photos and amaze your friends. I wanted to throw a ball and imagined what it must have been like in the late 1880s when the room was a ballroom, and the bedroom and office were parlours.
The kitchen is functional and has a big table to eat in. Bathroom is small but functional as well - the shower is very high and has good hot water (for a tall person, it's a wonderful shower.) The floor tiles in the apartment feel wonderful underfoot and the windows are the ultimate Italian experience of first opening the shutters, then the windows, then the external shutters (for the windows facing the inner courtyard.) It was a morning ritual to wake up and reveal the day.
Your hosts, Francesca, Claudio and their daughter Chiara are so warm and friendly. I felt like a part of their family (Chiarar lives in another apartment in the building), and they were attentive and responsive with any needs that arose. I enjoyed running into them in the entrance way, and felt more secure as a solo woman, living near a family.
One of the few negatives for me was the sound of the buses going by on the street. It took earplugs and some days to get used to their sound and the cars in the evening, but luckily everything quiets down by midnight. Also, the park in the summertime is just full of life - which I loved unless I had insomnia. But you're living in a city so it was to be expected, and it is wonderful to have a snack on the balcony and watch the wind blow through the trees - and all the locals walk their dogs every day.
The location is on the edge of the tourist zones, so you have easy access to all of the sights, but you see many locals and don't feel swamped by tourism. The piazza around the corner of Saint Ambrosia is fun to get morning cappucinos or evening spritzes and simply watch the locals interact. The park was a welcome respite from the maze of the city, and you are an easy walk to the river and the buslines can take you everywhere else. I bought a bike, so enjoyed going 2 blocks to the main bike lane which wraps around the city and along the river.
I would choose this place for the beautiful settings, the ceilings, the feeling of living in the wealthy part of Florence but in another era, but also the rich history of Francesca's family living here for generations, and their warm hospitality. This was the most beautiful apartment I have every stayed in, and was an experience I will never forget.