Florence Apt. 2 bedroom/ 3 Day Stay
 

Does anyone have a recommendation for a 2 bedroom/ 3 day stay apartment in Florence? We have reserved a B & B, but with thethe two of us are traveling w/ 2 friends, we think we could save euros by staying in an apartment...any ideas? I have already looked on SlowTrav; VRBO, etc...so personal experience/ advice is what I am asking for. Thanks!

We rented an apartment from Gianna at sleepinginflorence.com last year and we were extremely happy with both the apartment and our all communications with Gianna.

One caveat- if mobility is an issue, be sure to ask about the number of stairs. Most of the apartments are in a building that has no elevator, and our apartment (the Casini) was up quite a few flights of stairs. Gianna is very up front about this though so don't hesitate to ask her.

The San Lorenzo apartments are located on the Borgo San Lorenzo, literally down the street and around the corner from the Duomo. It's a lively pedestrian street with a lot of restaurants.

Our apartment was fresh, bright, and very clean. It was also very well equiped- iron & iron board, dishwashing machine and soap, clothes washing machine and soap, clothes drying rack, extra plug adaptors in a drawer, an umbrella, extra sheets and blankets and towels. Everything worked great. The bathroom was quite large. No tub, but the shower was generously sized with good water pressure and lots of hot water. If you're traveling between May-Sept, the SAn Lorenzo apartments have air-conditioning.

One of our favourite things was hanging out the windows and watching the street life below, and looking out over the neighbouring rooftops. We also had a nice view of the top of the Duomo and the Bell Tower.

I wrote them, but have not heard back from them... mobility is not an issue--we are mid 50s but ready to walk and climb stairs at this point!

Thanks for your help...

It is always iffy, but I have had very good luck with renting places I found on craig's list. I do always check a map to see exact location and ask about noise, steps, surrounding area, etc.

I also rented at the San Lorenzo Apartments thru www.sleepinginflorence.com and was very happy with the communication, location, service, ammenities, and price.

This luxury B&B also rents apartments; I have stayed in the B&B itself and was very pleased. I recommended the apartments to a small group of very experienced Italy travelers and they were also satisfied. The location cannot be beat:

http://www.inpiazzadellasignoria.com...partamenti.php

Still waiting for SleepinginFlorence to respond...ekscrunchy, your place looks wonderful, but only will take a weekly rental for a 4 person apartment.

I used RentVillas for our Florence apartment - they are based in California but have on site people in the city.

I too have used Gianna from www.sleepinginflorence.com for our
stay in Sept. She has been great to deal with. I can't wait for the trip.

We loved our sleepinginflornce apt.

The entire experience went very smoothly. As mentioned, if mobility is an issue, raise it immediately and try for an apt. on a lower floor.

If only sleepinginflorence would respond! I emailed them several days ago and have heard nothing!

Maybe Gianna is on holiday. I can't imagine that she wouldn't respond within 24 hours if she is able.

Well, Gianna is on holiday, but someone else with the company just replied that their 2 bedroom apartments are full during the time we will be there...I am still hoping to find an appropriate apartment. Any ideas?

The Residenza il Carmine apartments get favourable reviews on slowtrav, I believe. Haven't stayed there myself, but I've had the website saved in my favourites for quite some time:

http://www.residenzailcarmine.com/e_1.htm

I can definately recommend the location, which is right beside the church with the Branacci Chapel, in the Oltrarno (I can't say enough good things about the Oltrarno) I'm pretty sure I can remember seeing the building with the apartments- an attractive, well-kept, low rise, traditional building with a courtyard garden.

The thing is that all the apartments sleep only two people (they are fairly compact) but perhaps 2 of these apartments would still be more economical than 2 rooms in the B&B, given the kitchen facilities? According to the 2008 price list, the cheapest apartments run from 79 to 99 euros per night, and the most expensive is 99 to 149 euros a night.

Sorry to hear that Sleeping in Florence didn't work out. Good luck in your search.