Gemini City Centre Studios

The place was dark, damp, dated and dirty, with too little light in the flat. The beds were cheap and the traffic noise was bad. The staff were rude and unprofessional. I travel a lot and have stayed in places from budget to luxury, and this was the worst stay I've had. The photos and description were misleading, and we had to clean everything again before using it. There was no kettle, so we had to boil water in pots. The gas cooker wouldn't ignite. When I asked about it, a staff member responded rudely, as if I couldn't use a cooker. They checked about 30 minutes later and found I was right, but didn't apologize, just handed me a lighter. The extractor fan seemed to work, until we realized the duct was broken and it blew air back into the kitchen. The bathroom was also dark and dirty, with mold on the floor trim and tiles. The water was only warm and its temperature kept changing, so it wouldn't be hot enough in winter. There was no light in the shower corner, just a cheap flashing LED on a shower head that wasn't fitted properly and looked like it could burst at any moment. The curtain was too short, so water splashed onto the floor. They took a 50 euro deposit at check-in and said it could be charged if we didn't clean the kitchen and take out the bins, at the staff's discretion. That felt like a scam and a threat. It ruined the mood of our trip. The price wasn't even lower than nearby places, and I wouldn't stay there for free.

We stayed for 14 nights and had no problems. The room was clean and quiet, with comfortable beds, a microwave, electric stove, TV, fridge and hair dryer. Wi-Fi was good, and the bathroom was clean too. The owner was serious and didn't say much, but gave us a map and all the information we needed. The building is close to the main train station and bus station. Two large supermarkets, Conad and Carrefour, are about 300 m away and open every day, Sundays included. It's a good base for the city centre and trips to Fiesole, Prato, Pisa, Siena, San Giminiano and Lucca. We chose an apartment over a hotel because seeing Firenze and nearby cities takes at least a week. For just a day or two, you can hardly see anything, while a week in a hotel and eating at restaurants would cost a lot in this expensive area.

We arrived just 10 minutes after check-in, but the office was empty. A tenant told us there were no rooms available. Then I discovered my card had been charged twice. I called the owner the next morning to dispute it, and he tried to defend charging twice even though we hadn't stayed overnight. The one thing that gave me a laugh was that call. I got the money back after explaining what happened to my credit card company. In response to the owner's reply, first, thanks for that paragraph from hell. It showed me a whole new level of mangling English. You advertise this place as a 4 star hotel in Florence, though it wouldn't pass as Project 8 housing in Los Angeles. Look at your ratings. The 10,000 guests you claim to house each year must not have access to the internet, while the eight of us who do have described things accurately. I didn't threaten to call the mafia, I said I would call the feds. In America, we have this idea of stopping scams and fraud, including taking people's money through false advertising or faulty charges. What are guests meant to do if they don't have a working phone while visiting Italy, or their train is an hour late? How can they call you after 8 PM? Maybe the office should stay open until 10 PM like a normal hotel, or have a phone available. Just brainstorming. And why did every tenant we spoke to say there was no vacancy that night? We said, "No... but we made reservations. I paid for it on my credit card." A sweet older woman in the square told us, "I'm sorry. I know for a fact all these rooms are filled." Was she part of the hoax, or did you decide to charge someone else for our booked room less than an hour after closing because we hadn't arrived by 8 PM? *Ponders*..... USA 1 Gemini Reich 0

The room was clean, but the AC didn't cool it. We left it blasting cold all night and it was still hot the next morning. Someone staying in another room had the same issue.