EastBayer

I will be in Florence with 2 friends for 4 nights in September. We'd like to rent an apartment. with 1-2 bedrooms and prefer to pay no more than about 150 euros per night. I've rented apartments for less in Rome; is Florence more difficult because it's so much smaller? Also, what is the area around between Piazza Santa Croce and Piazza San Firenze like? Thanks for any suggestions.

Apres_Londee

I can recommend this company if you don't mind some stairs- there's no lift in the building:

http://www.sleepinginflorence.com/

The owner is fantastic and the apartments are very nice and centrally located.

EastBayer

Apres_Londee, the San Lorenzo apartments look very nice. Thanks for your advice. It sounds as if we would have a really good experience staying in one of these apartments. I've sent a request for a 2-bedroom or a 1-bedroom apartment. Have you stayed in the Falleri or Lepri; do you know how comfortable their sofa beds are? That is where I would be sleeping. Also, we were on the brink of confirming an apartment in the Santa Croce area which is a friend's favorite part of Florence to stay in. Can you compare the two neighborhoods?

debbie13

In 2007 we stayed at this Boboli apartment for one month and it was great. Close to everything and just up the road is the back entrance to the Boboli Gardens. Apartment is on Via Romana in the Oltrano district, just across the Ponte Vecchio.

http://www.holidayhomestuscany.com/f...no-rental.html

tuscanlifeedit

I'm not Apres-L, but I can tell you that I prefer the Santa Croce area to the San Lorenzo area. Much less hectic, but SC is close enough to the center that you can have everything at your finger tips.

I used to do some freelance work for the very nice people that own and run florencevillas.com (thus the dopey screen name, and it was years ago). We have stayed in the Santa Croce I apartment several times. It is very close to Vivoli and several excellent restaurants.

San Lorenzo is closer to the Mercato Centrale, but that wouldn't make me want to stay there. If you do stay in Santa Croce, any of the markets and a good food shopping street are convenient. The San Lorenzo street market area is very crowded.

Beds: Santa Croce I had two beds, both comfortable, and two baths. Santa Croce II, I think, had one bed and a sofa bed. I did not sleep on the sofa bed. Anyway, here is a link:

http://www.florencevillas.com/proper...hp?idunit=1961

SC II:

http://www.florencevillas.com/proper...hp?idunit=2021

tedgale

Residenza il Carmine is on the Oltrarno. Their largest apt is *Domus*.

One bedroom + double living room with sofabeds. Which may sound a little small and unimpressive. But it's 1000 sq feet.

One full one half bath (latter ensuite to bedroom). Superlative huge kitchen/ dining/ sitting room -- in addition to the dble living room. French doors onto a quiet garden.

If you get lucky -- and we have, twice -- you can get this for a very reasonable rate, off-season. I think we paid 85 E/nt. in March 09 for 3 nights -- we changed our dates in Florence to take advantage of the cut-rate.

Apres_Londee

Hi EastBayer,

I stayed in one of the two bedroom apartments, the Casini, for week in April 2007 with my parents and sister. The apartments are on Borgo San Lorenzo, which is literally around the corner from the Duomo. The street is lined with restaurants and most everything is within walking distance. It's very much in the centre of the action, so to speak.

I'm afraid I can't really compare it with the area around Santa Croce, as I've only been to Florence the one time. From what I can recall of Santa Croce, that area may be quieter with less people about at night- but I am not really qualified to say, hopefully someone else can chime in.

I can tell you that I found the owner of the Sleeping in Florence apartments to be wonderful to deal with. The apartment itself was very nice, even nicer than it appears in the photos on the website- it was very bright and everything was very fresh and spotlessly clean. It was also well equipped with things like an iron and ironing board, umbrella, lots of extra linens and towels, clothes drying rack, and plenty of dishes and utensils. We were very pleased and comfortable there.

I learned about these apartments from doing a search here and I found this excellent trip report from another poster- I hope she doesn't mind my posting a link to her report- she stayed in one of the one bedroom flats and for some reason I think she slept on the futon couch at one point- anyways here's the report, it's definitely worth a read:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm

EastBayer

debbie13, tuscanlifeedit, and tedgale--thank you for your suggestions, which all sound and look good. Apres_Londee, I really appreciate your detailed description and thanks for sending me the link to statia's trip report, which I've just read and enjoyed from start to finish.
It's great to have the firsthand recommendations.

zoecat

Residenza il Carmine in the Oltrarno gets good reviews and is in a nice area. I've never stayed there though, so I cannot give you a first hand review. Check slowtrav.com for reviews.

http://www.residenzailcarmine.com/e_5.htm

tedgale

Here is an album that contains many photos of the apartment Domus at Residenza Il Carmine

(+ photos of Rome apt, Venice apt and other accommodation)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...5&l=840faa5003

EastBayer

Thanks for the detailed info about Residenza Il Carmine. It looks very nice. tedgale, I enjoyed all of your photos.

calbearz

EastBayer, where did you end up staying in Florence and how was your apartment experience? I have similar apartment requirements as you seemed to and I would love to get some recommendations from you.