We stayed in this apartment for a week in late July/early August. Apartment is nice, well-kept, and Alessandro and his wife go out of their way to make your stay enjoyable. We thoroughly enjoyed the bottle of wine they left as a welcome. The apartment is right in the middle of the old city about a block from the Piazza del Signoria. You can walk to anywhere and we did. Duomo, Uffizzi, Central Market, across the Ponte Vecchio and up to Michelangelo's park and Boboli Gardens. (Sorry if I am not spelling correctly.) Leather school at Santa Croce as well as all the leather shops, rooftop cafe at the department store on Piazza Repubblica (One of the best views of the Duomo while enjoying a glass of wine, a spritz or a full meal.). We walked miles and only took cabs to get from the train station and to the airport. No surprise I actually lost .5 lbs even with all the eating and drinking I did for 3 weeks!

The only drawback was having to climb the stairs once we got to the apartment. You must climb three sets of stairs - approximately 60 steps - going up and again to go down. You must be in reasonably good shape to handle this.With luggage it was a tough haul. Not a hotel so there are no porters and cabbies cannot leave car in the street long enough to help you.

This is a two bedroom apartment but I really have a hard time seeing more than one couple and maybe a child staying here. The living room has a couch and a table with 4 chairs. There is no other seating. The second bedroom is small. We put our suitcase on the bed and used it as more of a dressing area. The bathrooms have been updated and are nice but the shower stall is pretty small - reminded us of being on a cruise ship. The half bath off the master bedroom is fairly large.

It was very hot when we were in Florence so we kept both sets of shutters closed at all times to keep out the sun and heat. AC was pretty good by European standards but we had to close the door to the bedroom to get it cool enough to sleep comfortably. While you are right above a restaurant - we ate there the first night and it was good. - the street noise is minimal with windows closed.

We tried the Fishing Lab restaurant recommended by Alessandro and loved it! Not a typical Italian restaurant but seafood was really fresh and we had a ringside seat to watch the sous chef prepare appetizers. Try it if you happen to want a break from heavy Italian meals.

Mille Grazie, Alessandro!