Rick joined me in Prato on Saturday night after a very long travel day from our home in Vancouver. He then turned around from the 9 hour time difference while I spent Sunday teaching my last paper craft workshop. By the end of the day, the class was finished and I was officially on HOLIDAY!
Monday morning my workshop hostess Patty took us to the Prato train station where we would catch the train to the Florence Santa Maria Novella station. Our plan was to stay 4 nights in the heart of Florence to explore it. Rick and I would head to the city from Prato, and my parents would fly into Florence Monday afternoon.
It was a simple, straight forward train ride from Prato, and within about 25 minutes or so, Rick and I were in the city center.
Before we could explore the city, we needed to check into our apartment rental and drop off our bags. More often than not, when travelling in Europe, our family opts for apartments or houses over hotels. We find that in the long run, it is a much better value as we tend to rent facilities with fully equipped kitchens, which allows us to save on dining out. Plus, given that we often travel with my parents, we split the cost, so sometimes it even ends up being cheaper than hotels (bonus!).
Over the years, I have rented (or found rentals that we've later booked direct with the owners) through vrbo.com, homelidays.com, and the specialty lodging and B&B sections on tripadvisor.com. This year I tried a site that was new to me, but I ended up really loving it and will use them again: Air bnb. They work as a middle man between people offering accommodation, and those booking. The best part is that there is security when booking with them (which many of the other sites do not offer). You pay Air bnb for your rental when you book, but they don't release the funds to your host until 24 hours into your rental period. So, if there is a problem (for instance the owner of the property never shows up, the place is not like the promotional photos, etc.) you have recourse. While I never had a bad experience while using the sites I mentioned earlier, I have heard some horror stories. So, Air bnb takes a bit of the worry out of booking. Plus, they allow people who have stayed at the apartments to leave reviews which is really helpful when trying to choose an apartment.
After doing a ton of research, we chose to book Condotta Suite 14. It was a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath apartment that was situated in the heart of the old town. The Uffizi Museum and Piazza della Signoria were only 1 block away, the Duomo was 3 blocks away and it was only a five
minute walk to the Ponte Vecchio. And for gelato lovers like Rick, there were 3 fabulous places, all within minutes of the apartment. Seriously, this place was so centrally located.
(Photos from the Condotta Suite 14 Air bnb listing)
Here's the review I left on the Air bnb website:
Condotta Suite 14 was the perfect base for our family visit to
Florence. We were a party of 4, my husband and I along with my parents.
The apartment was very clean, and it was obvious that the renovation
of the space had been done with care to make the Suite a relaxing oasis
in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Florence.
The master bedroom was very large, while the second bedroom was tight
for space, but we knew this from the photos of the rooms that the owner
had posted in his listing, so it was not a surprise and was what we
were expecting. Oh, and the beds were heavenly with what felt like a
memory foam mattress. The suite has one full bathroom with a great
rain-head shower which never seemed to have any issues with hot water,
and one en-suite bathroom with a sink, toilet and bidet. The kitchen was
spotless and serviceable, good for basic meal preparation (and with a
great dishwasher so that you don't have to spend vacation time doing
dishes). But perhaps would be a bit limiting if you were thinking of
cooking a gourmet meal as there was only 1 pot (with a large and small
metal strainer which could fit inside it) and 1 frying pan.
The apartment is just one block off of Piazza Della Signoria and less
than a five minute walk to the Ponte Vecchio in one direction and the
Duomo in the other, so we were right in the center of the action.
While the apartment is very wonderful, and well worth staying on its
own, Alessandro and his attention and help were invaluable. Before our
arrival he emailed a handy guide to us, it recommended his favorite
restaurants, and gave tips to enjoy his apartment and city. He went out
of his way to check in via email to make sure all was well during our
stay. He also provided some extra assistance to our family during our
time in Florence, which was so appreciated. It would be our pleasure to
stay in Condotta Suite 14 should our travels bring us to Florence again
in the future.
(Since my review Alessandro, the host, has indicated that he has added more items to the kitchen to make it more serviceable. Gotta love it when people listen to feedback!)
We were really happy with our choice and would definitely recommend them to you if you were considering a visit to Florence. The only thing to take note of is that there are a number of stairs to get to the apartment (I think it was like 50-60 or so), so perhaps it would not be the best choice for those with mobility issues, but for us, it was perfect.
Feel free to email me (the link is under my photo on the top left of this page) if you have any questions about this rental, or our experience with Air bnb.
