Oltrarno, Apartment Aurea: Firenze Appartamento #112eFlorence

Susan da United States of America

3 of 5

I stayed at this flat in Florence for 11 nights. Although I booked through Cities Reference the flat was managed by Tuscan Feeling, a property management company in Florence and all my dealings upon and after arrival were with Tuscan Feeling. The flat was very spacious and clean and looked like the photos in the listing. When my new laptop would not recognize the Wi-Fi modem in the flat, Tuscan Feeling sent someone over to fix the problem- which was remedied professionally and promptly.  The street facing 2 of the bedrooms and the living room was heavily travelled and there was quite a bit of honking and revving of motorcycle engines even at night- so much that it made it impossible to sleep with the windows open. This was a problem because, when I checked in, the rental agent showed me the thermostat regulating the heat and said it was not to be touched- in fact there was a big “do not touch” sign above it. I asked how I was to adjust the temperature if I wasn’t comfortable and he said they were sure it was set at the “proper temperature”. However, I found the apartment uncomfortably warm at night but could neither adjust the temperature nor open the windows because of the street noise. After I got settled I noticed that the kitchen appliances were not plugged in and the plugs didn’t fit the wall outlets- they all needed adapters. I called Tuscan Feeling and was told to look around the apartment and I would find an adapter somewhere and I could just move that one adapter from toaster to coffee maker to microwave as I needed to use them. I found this response unsatisfactory and after much discussion I insisted that they send over 3 adapters- which they finally did. Although these were small issues, there were numerous instances that indicated that Tuscan Feeling did not pay attention to maintaining the flat- for example- a light out in the bathroom (there were two baths so I just used the other one), so many light bulbs out in the kitchen ceiling fixture that I had to bring a lamp in from another room to be able to read at the table, the drapes in the livingroom were half off the drapery rods which made the room look shabby, no soap of any kind in the flat- no laundry detergent for the washing machine, no soap for dishes in the kitchen, no soap of any kind in either bathroom- I had to go to the store before I could wash my hands after arrival. I didn’t bother to contact Tuscan Feeling about these issues because dealing with the person about the adaptors for the appliances had been so unpleasant. Although none of these issues alone were major, there are now many apartments available to rent and I would probably not rent a flat managed by Tuscan Feeling again. I have rented other flats in Italy where the owner or agent was concerned about the convenience and comfort of the renter and paid attention to the details of maintenance -my experience with Tuscan Feeling indicated that it is not such an agency.  However, I want to add that I have booked flats through Cities Reference numerous times and the people there have been a pleasure to deal with- professional, efficient and responsive to customer questions and issues. I intend to continue to use Cities Reference to book my flats on future visits, I just will try to avoid flats managed by Tuscan Feeling