First of Florence Residence

That location is great, with a lovely cafe and restaurant right across the road, but the host wasn't helpful. When I pointed out that the listing didn't mention the stairs to the unit, I was told it was written in Italian. I also mentioned the elevator had been out for two of our three days, and was told to shut the door properly. Waiting for it to arrive, I hadn't left it open. Unit 8 is in a good spot, but the 24 stairs are quite a climb, unless you happen to want a stairclimber workout. After a long trip, we first had to wait for replies through Booking.com and WhatsApp. They wanted to see our passports before letting us in, so we had to find a table and search for the documents in the hot sun. We got a passcode to open the ground floor door, then took an old elevator to the first floor and used another code to reach the front desk. There was never anyone there, and we had to take our room keys from a basket. The plumbing was poor too. At busy times in the morning, water wouldn't come through for a while, so having hot running water felt like luck. It seemed okay in the afternoon. The sofa bed wasn't comfortable for an adult.

The location is good and the rooms are very spacious, but those were the only positives for me. Don't count on a proper breakfast. They left cheap white toast, chocolate spread, a small marmalade and a litre of milk in the fridge, and called that breakfast. Booking sites also showed a shuttle to and from the train station, but there wasn't one. My friend's room smelled of pesticides and wasn't very clean. We were really disappointed, so check the details before you go.

We stayed in June, and it was a great place. The cathedral was a block away, with lots of good restaurants nearby. The rooms vary, but ours was spacious, with a very nice place and modern bathrooms. They kindly gave us a few pastries to snack on. We asked the woman at reception where the nearest grocery store was, and she gladly pointed us there and suggested a few restaurants. This is an apartment hotel, so guests buy their own breakfast. The complaints about breakfast seem to miss that. I'd happily recommend it.

The staff are really pleasant, and the price was reasonable. It's handy for getting to Florence's main attractions. Our room felt a bit small for four, but we didn't spend much time in it anyway. I'd stay again without hesitation.