I'm going to be in Florence in the middle of July. I've found an apartment in Santa Croce, which looks beautiful and has air conditioning, which is an absolute requirement for my travel partner. However, the agency tells me that air conditioning is not included in the rental price, and won't give me an estimate of how much extra I'll be paying for it. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure? I'm guessing that we'll have it on only in the evening, since we'll be out exploring the city and countryside most days. Thanks!
I bought a little travel fan from Sharper Image a few years ago that's saved my life in travels all over the world to places where A/C is rare.
It runs on batteries or 110/220, but it's kind of heavy with the batteries installed, so I usually don't take them. At night I put it on my nightstand and blow it straight at me and I do fine without air conditioning.
Once in a hot hotel* in China I opened the door to my minibar-refrigerator and slept on the floor right by it. It worked, but the travel fan is better.
(*The place had A/C but hadn't turned it on for the season yet.)
________________ When life gives you lemons, make limoncello.
Not sure how big the apartment is, how long you'll run it, how long you will be there, etc. If you run it all night for a week, I can bet you'll pay in the $100 range.......It won't be cheap but then again, I've been there in July and had only a couple of hot days. Weather has been very unpredictable the last few years.
Keep in mind that even if you are willing to pay a supplemental cost, A/C in Italy is very rarely what Americans are used to. Usually these units do not have the ability to produce really cold air, and, in my experience, do not take much humidity out of the air. Then again, I hate the A/C so I am fine with the windows open, if possible.
I have also stayed in rooms that have "stronger" A/C units that turn off automatically when you enter and exit a room. We still had to pay even though I said we wouldn't use it. It was "built in".
