New Review Submitted for Florence 798 located in Florence, Tuscany, Italy.
Rental Date: Saturday 4th of July 2009.
Renter: Lucian C. (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada).
Renter Rating: 4/5.
Review Details:
Very nice, secure property on the outskirts of Florence (in Scandicci), within 15 minutes driving to parking close to Florence attractions, 10 minutes to highways, and 10 minutes to a supermarket (COOP).
I found the instructions in finding the vila helpful if you also use Googgle Maps. The owners are nice and are very accomodating; their son has a good command of English that was a great help as our Italian comprises of only two words: gelato and vino. The property is a small, 1 bedroom house located in an olive orchard; it has a kitchen that has everything you need if you want to cook. There is a nice private patio where you can enjoy your evening (or morning) glass of Chianti. There is a satelite TV with a DVD. We did not use the Internet connection so I cannot comment. I am not sure what the expectations are for these type of accomodations in Europe but the following North American expectations where not met: no soap and toilet paper in the bathroom, no salt, sugar, coffee or tea bags in the kitchen - which can be quite an inconvenience if you arrive late in the evening. Don't rent a big car, the road to the house is very narrow - as almost all roads inside the old cities in Italy. Summers are very hot and humid in Tuscany and if you like air conditioning then this rustic acommodation is not for you. There was a fan that we used during the night to cool off, however for us, Canadians it was way too hot. But that was part of the adventure and we did not let it spoil our stay. Mosquitos were omnipresent and you cannot really keep them out of the house as you have to keep the windows open to have the air circulate to cool the rooms. Not sure why the windows are not equipped with insect screens as any home in North America is. We stayed in 3 hotels in Italy and none of them had them either - found that very strange as the screens could be an easy fix for the mosquito problem. There was a mold like smell when we arrived which we tracked down to a bed cover and the carpet which we removed and sealed in a plastic bag. With the high humidity during summer and no ventilation there is no wonder that things start to exhibit their smelly personality. Overall was a good experience and I would stay there again next summer if there would be an air conditioning unit. Good luck!
I found the instructions in finding the vila helpful if you also use Googgle Maps. The owners are nice and are very accomodating; their son has a good command of English that was a great help as our Italian comprises of only two words: gelato and vino. The property is a small, 1 bedroom house located in an olive orchard; it has a kitchen that has everything you need if you want to cook. There is a nice private patio where you can enjoy your evening (or morning) glass of Chianti. There is a satelite TV with a DVD. We did not use the Internet connection so I cannot comment. I am not sure what the expectations are for these type of accomodations in Europe but the following North American expectations where not met: no soap and toilet paper in the bathroom, no salt, sugar, coffee or tea bags in the kitchen - which can be quite an inconvenience if you arrive late in the evening. Don't rent a big car, the road to the house is very narrow - as almost all roads inside the old cities in Italy. Summers are very hot and humid in Tuscany and if you like air conditioning then this rustic acommodation is not for you. There was a fan that we used during the night to cool off, however for us, Canadians it was way too hot. But that was part of the adventure and we did not let it spoil our stay. Mosquitos were omnipresent and you cannot really keep them out of the house as you have to keep the windows open to have the air circulate to cool the rooms. Not sure why the windows are not equipped with insect screens as any home in North America is. We stayed in 3 hotels in Italy and none of them had them either - found that very strange as the screens could be an easy fix for the mosquito problem. There was a mold like smell when we arrived which we tracked down to a bed cover and the carpet which we removed and sealed in a plastic bag. With the high humidity during summer and no ventilation there is no wonder that things start to exhibit their smelly personality. Overall was a good experience and I would stay there again next summer if there would be an air conditioning unit. Good luck!
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