I have just completed half of my Italian holiday in Venice and Florence and arrived in Rome today.......and finally am able to connect to internet today. During my stay in Florence in the last 4 days, I kept on getting disappointed with the apartment we were staying in but did not know whom to talk to.

I chose this apartment :
https://www.sleepinitaly.com/en/show...d_appartam=333

What I got was on the third floor and not on the first as mentioned (I am travelling with a 4 year old, so you can imagine the nightmare of climbing 70 steps every time), not a loft apartment, wallswith peeling paint and very very disappointing (low water pressure etc.) The only contact was an elderly porter Mario who only spoke Italian and communicated he had instructions to give us the keys for this property only.


I feel completly cheated by my Florence expirience....please advice.

Hi

I'm sorry to hear of your experience. Have you tried contacting Sleep in Italy with your complaint? I note there is another negative report on Trip Advisor - http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...e_Tuscany.html. You may want to post there as well.

When I search the sleep in italy site I come across 4 apartments in the same Serragli. Loft, Azur, Verde, and White.


Which one did you end up with? My guess is you got the white apartment and not the loft. The list price on the white is actually more than the loft, so while I can understand that you are upset, it would be hard to argue you were totally cheated.

What did the user reviews you consulted tell you about these apartments?

You mention the 3rd floor. Was it the 3rd floor in US terms, or in Italian terms? Ground floor in Italy is US 1st floor, 1st = 2nd, etc.

You also mention the porter only speaking Italian. I don't think it's unreasonable that in Italy they speak Italian and not English. Not a legit complaint IMO.

As for low water pressure, you probably would not have had much better pressure in the other apartment.

If you didn't like the apartment you got you should have contacted sleep in italy on the 1st or 2nd day.

Net, while I appreciate that you may be upset that you didn't get the loft, I don't think you were outright cheated and have that much of a real complaint, especially since it seems like the apartment you did use was more expensive anyway.

May not be the answer you were looking for...

I would contact SleepinItaly and ask for an explanation. but based on the above it sounds like they subsituted a more expensie apartment for a less expansive one.

As for stairs - in europe the floors are labeled differntly and stairs are just considered a fact of life = except in either new or very luxurious buildings. (Would going up one fewer flight of stairs have really been much different?) As for water pressure - this is different everywhere. As long as you had water and the temperature was appropriate weak water pressure isn;t that much of a complaint. (I would hate it - but that's why I stay in hotels - generally upscale ones - where this rarely happens. With apartments you take your chances on a lot of things.)

And agree that you can;t expect a porter - or anyone for that matter - to speak English in italy.

If it were me I would have called SleepinItaly when I saw the apartment and tried to sort it out then.

I think there is a VAST difference between the First Floor, which is clearly stated in the ad, and the Third floor, and I wouldn't much care what country was doing the counting. That still amounts to two extra flights, and I too would be angry.

I'd be really angry too!

Too many stairs with a child and all there stuff, you probably wouldn't have rented from them had they told you that was the only one available for your dates.

Who cares about the difference in price when it's that small, you pick an apartment as much on style and comfort as price...peeling paint probably isn';t something you would pick if you saw it in pictures.

On the porter not speaking english, fine, but you should have had a contact person and number that you could have called that did speak english, after all this is a big company not someone renting their space out on VRBO.

Water pressure, well that's just a chance you take anywhere whether renting or staying in a hotel,, but, maybe you wouldn't have rented the 4th floor apt and always chosen lower floors to stay on for that reason

I would send sleeepinitaly an email, state your issues and tell them you expect to deal with this AFTER you return....and just have a great rest of your vacation!

But did you have a happy time in Florence?

It is a difficult lesson to learn, but I always speak to the apartment owner or exchange email before going. I make sure I have a contact name and number of someone that I can call if things are not right when I get there.

I'm sorry this happened to you, but I've had good experience with SleepInItaly. I am sure if you contact them right away, they will remedy the situation.

Good luck!

I will answer Peter's question first: I loved Florence (and the trips to Pisa and Luca). Will tell you all about it in the trip report....hopefully!
@susana/tuscanfeed/worldinabag: THank you for getting my point.
@J62/nytraveler: Yes, I have not been cheated as you say......and in legal terms, it might not apply. But I hope you understand, this holiday costs us a huge part of our annual savings/and a great part of 22 days leave allowed by the company......it means a lot more as an expirience of enjoyment as a family than "technicalities". I would never have taken that apartment if I knew it was on that high a florr....dear husband has a badly sprained hand pulling up and down the bags (but then some might say we should not carry heavy stuff with a child!)
It's just a feeling of getting cheated....and I have had (including now in Rome) great expirience with sleepinitaly every other time!

What was sleepinitaly's response to this when y go there and complained?

oops. when you GOT there.

@sarge56: They were very promt on emails and my expirience with them has been great too It's just one aberration!
@lincasanova: Am yet to complain......I will once am back home....do not want to ruin my trip on this!

Waiting until you get home to complain is a poor strategy that dilutes your arguments and effectiveness in getting a resolution.

It's also not quite fair to sleepinitaly.

You didn't give them any chance to rectify the problems on the spot(not sure what they could have done since the actual landlord may have switched apartments on you unbeknownst to then).

If you do a google search of sleepinitaly you'll see this thread title as results #2, yet they've had no chance to work with you before the public slamming.

For all you know the loft apartment was in worse shape then then one you got.

I also don't think one extra flight of stairs is a complaint worth making a stink about.

I think it would have taken less time to call them than write us about it. I don't quite understand the situation because I would be more in a hurry to se if they could solve my complaint than interact on fodors. I don't see either how that would ruin your vacation.

But anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy your vacation, and I would have been upset, too. Maybe there is a logical "excuse".

@J26/Stcirq/lincasanova: I agree I should have called them while I was there in Florence. Have already mailed them and awaiting response.
I do not expect them to refund any part nor would have had the time or energy to move into a new apartment while in Florence.I just expected the landlord or sleepinitaly to inform me before they decided to switch apartments. It's not that we choose any or all apartment from that site....it is always a decision/choice.
I am even right now having a good expirience with my Rome apartmentwith Sleepinitaly.But that does not make the Florence expirience better. As an agency charging money for the services, it is their responsibility for managing the owners/backend.
I will still continue to be their customer .

Perhaps you can find a different word to use besides "cheated".
It was, after all, a more expensive apartment than the one you paid for...

Maybe "unwanted upgrade"?

@bardo1: I wish I could change the title now!

I guess it all depends on your perepctive. With a small child - and all the stuff that usually entails - I would only have taken a building with an elevator.

And perhaps I'm nt clear on the location of the apartment. When you say 3rd floor is that 3rd floor US (up too flights of stairs) or 3rd floor europe (up 3 flights of stairs)? If it's up two flights of stairs - that's the 2nd floor in europe - or only one more than the apartment you reserved (unless that was on the ground floor versus the first floor).