Sant'Ambrogio Apartments - Raffaello

Ottima posizione e rapporto qualità prezzo. Deposito per bagagli disponibile.

Nulla

La ubicación. Cercano a todo lo que hay que ver; en 5 minutos te plantabas en la piazza del duomo, y de ahí todo cercano. Muchos bares y cafeterías cercanos. Muy buena relación calidad precio y la atención del personal, de 10

La vicinanza al centro ed il quartiere dove è ubicata

L'aria condizionata non funzionava benissimo

The apartment is one of four that overlooks the piazza of the flea market (delle Pulci) a weird address that the taxi company did not consider a residence but nonetheless in the highly desirable Sant’Ambrogio neighborhood. Though I ate my meals in, there are several restaurants that line the piazza, and the rental agency provides a list of good dining options around town. (I second their tip to eat at Il Guscio). I travel to Florence 1-2 times per year and always stay in this neighborhood or the one just on the other side of the viale to the east (via Gioberti area). Close by the National Library, State Archives, and Santa Croce. Good hot water and water pressure. Clean washing machine. The apartment, extraordinary for Florence, was quite warm ad dry so towels and laundry dry quickly unlike other places that can hold humidity and damp. The ironing board is one of those small portable ones (though the legs don’t really want to stand it up.) AC works well and windows have screens (also a rarity in Florence) I have rented countless apartments in Florence for over 30 years. Most I would never return to. Apartment Raffaello is among the few I would rent again. See below for the reasons why I did not give them a perfect rating. Note: the apartment is up 1.5 flights of stairs with two landings. About 20 steps. There is also a step in the apartment, so if you have mobility issues, beware. Also, though there is a pop out bed that can be unfolded for additional guests, it opens to be right by the dining table and seems to me it would be crowded with more than 2 people who share the bed in the bedroom. Because the apartment overlooks a busy piazza, there is some noise. But, it is a low murmur of activity rather than loud, and I had no trouble falling asleep. If you are sensitive to the sounds of urban life, you may want to find something that overlooks an interior courtyard. Though there were others staying in the building, I could not hear them at all.

The apartment was surface clean, but the skid marks on the wooden floor (likely from moving furniture), black marks on the walls, slow drain (about an inch of water stands in the stall while it is in use), and a thick layer of dust on the grate of the bathroom ceiling fan/vent suggests it hasn’t had a deep clean in quite a while. The floor was swept clean, but it needs a good mopping. Oddly, there was no broom/dustpan for me to clean up after myself. The kitchen, as in the photo, has two burners but they are too close to each other to use the large pit and large skillet provided. So I used the small one. The cooking utensils are plastic and not strong enough to stir something thick/heavy. Also, there is no light under the cabinets or directly over the cooking area, and so it is dark on the counter. I found an extra lamp in the closet and put it on top of the cabinet which helped, but was still hard to see what I was preparing. Nevertheless, I was able to make a pretty good spaghetti carbonara, but definitely check the stock before you choose your recipes and head to the market. I plan to give them a list of minor things to repair (low water flush option on toilet and loose toilet roll holder) and stock in the apartment for the next guest (dish soap, sponges, broom/dustbin, extra garbage bags, a few more kitchen utensils). If they take my advice, I would definitely stay again and give 10s. If my usual apartment is booked the next time I came, I would stay here and likely give the score I did here if these improvements are not made. The bed was a little soft to my liking and sagged a little towards the center. But I slept pretty well.