Mama mia! I've been searching Florence apartment rentals so long my eyeballs are spinning and I'm on the verge of going brain dead. Pass the Prozac! You'd think 6-7 months advance notice would be adequate, but nooOOooh.

Dates: 29 September to 13 October

Particulars: Light, bright, 2 or 3 BR apartment for 2-3 women in their mid 50's, preferably with garden or terrace. (Elevator--or ground floor if not dark--needed for the bad knee and chemo fatigue contingent.) Prefer Oltrarno or similar residential 'hood to 'central' sitting on top of Duomo, though at this point I'll consider anything, incuding Friesole if it's right on a bus line.

The most appealing options of this type I've seen are from Windows on Tuscany, but alas, they're all booked--probably have been since last year. The Carmine garden options may work--great if it was just me--but sheesh, they're small. My girlfriend and I would kill each other after sharing one for 2 weeks. And, if I found a nice 3 bedroom, I could invite another gal or a couple to join us, defray costs, and afford a nicer place.

Thanks for letting me kavetch. Am I expecting too much? If anyone has any bright ideas besides the obvious (I've scoured ST reviews, classifieds, gazillions of agencies, etc, etc...) let me know.

Karen

Karen,
The following agencies have been used by friends

www.tuscany-appartments.com
www.rental-in-florence.com
www.florencerentalappartments.com in particular the VillaBastioni looks very appealing and is recommended by a group of our friends who stayed there in 2005
Good Luck!!!

Have you looked at this page yet?

http://www.vbella.com/regions/florence.asp

I can persoonally recommend Vacanza Bella.

jan

Thanks for your leads so far! I've placed some inquiries.

Poet123, the florencerentalapartments.com domain appears to be on sale! FYI!

Karen

I also found it difficult to get an apartment in Florence for 5 people, then stumbled across 'Interhome.'

Have now booked three different apartments from them.
http://www.interhome.com.au/

Good luck.

Elly

our group of 5 stayed in this apartment last year, around the same time you are going! the Guelfa Apartment. although the description says it has a room w/ a set of bunk beds, we found it was two twins - no bunk up high.
kooky, one of our group even had knee problems, which is why we chose this ground floor apt.

The Domus apartment at Residenza Il Carmine might fit the bill (if it is available). Until the owners, Miriam & Emilio, built themselves new quarters facing the garden apartments, it was their home.

My recollection is that it has access to the garden, although it is in the main part of the palazzzo. At any rate, it certainly overlooks the garden.

Someone on the message board recently stayed there; whoops I checked and geenance is planning to stay there shortly, or is there now.

Try it...

M

Hey, Marian.

Good lead, but unfortunately, it's not available.

Karen

Ok --- sorry about Domus

Last September (when I also couldn't get an apartment at Il Carmine) I rented through this rental agent. Their website is not that easy to use, but they are "FirenzeLodging.it" and they have a few apartments in the Oltrarno. The one I rented was very nice, in an elevator building, but too small for you. The principals, Francesca and Lorenzo Beltrame, are brother and sister and are quite pleasant to deal with.

M

Karen,
Our family of 5 will be staying in the Apartment San Niccolo listed on florenceby.com. There is no terrace but we were looking for space to spread out, 2 bedrooms, washing machine, parking nearby and an Oltrarno location. Many of the apartments I looked at (there were lots!) were either too fancy (sumptuous decor and pricey) or extremely utilitarian. This apartment seems to be a good mix of space, price and the ammenities we were looking for.

We will be there in 2 weeks; I will let you know if we enjoyed our stay. Michelle

quote:

Originally posted by MichelleB:
We will be there in 2 weeks; I will let you know if we enjoyed our stay. Michelle

That's a nice apartment you were able to find MichelleB. Even though you swear you've seen all the apartments that Florence has to offer twenty times over, there's always more. Therefore, I'll surely be looking forward to reading your rental review after your return. Cindy

Yes, Michelle; that's a nice one. I hope you have a wonderful time! And you're right, Cindy--the search seems an endless task

I get so frustrated with florenceby's website: they have all this flowery prose but don't say upfront how many bedrooms there are...You have to search for it. And, if there's more than one unit in a building, the photo gallery doesn't tell you which photos go with which units. And, if there is a terrace, they often don't show it. Anyhow, I'm soldiering on with this challenge!!

Karen

I had mixed feelings about lots of the rental agencies and would often google apartments that I was interested in to see if they were offered through multiple agencies or even independently. After we rented San Niccolo apartment, I found an independent website that detailed the apartment, including floorplan. www.rentingflorence.com

We will be in Rome (leaving Sat.!), Florence and Venice and finding an apartment in Florence was our biggest challenge. In Rome & Venice we are in hotels. We booked approx. 6 weeks ago.

Best of luck, Michelle

Check out the website www.italyperfect.com. I've rented the Medici apartment twice and really love it. Only about 20 minute walk to Ponte Vecchio or you can pick up the bus a five minute walk from the apartment. It has two bedrooms and is in a wonderful neighborhood called Boboli.

Luisa

Luisa, unfortunately, Medici isn't available :-( But, I may have an option...I posted on Craig's List & a woman responded w/her 2 BR w/terrace in Oltrarno at a good price. My only concern is that with a private party, the pro is better price; the con is not knowing who you're dealing with. Thoughts, anyone?

We just got a few new classifieds for Florence:
http://www.slowtrav.com/cl/short.asp?c=1&r=268

And we just picked a Florence agency as a SlowTrav favorite:
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/listings/favorites.htm
(Look at the agencies under All of Italy - they all have Florence listings too.)

Karen: Try Firenze Lodging (see my message above). They will likely respond very quickly and who knows, they may still have apartments.

M

Thanks, Marian. I finally figured out how to write them. Their website leaves somethings to be desired!

Pauline, if you see this, I couldn't figure out what was new in the classifieds. Maybe I don't know the secret. I looked for a recent date, but....?

Karen: It's info@italianlodging.it, and it goes to Lorenzo Beltrame. If you wish, you may say that they were recommended by the woman who rented the Leone apartment for 3 weeks in September.

M

ciaobella -
try francesca boggio at "fine italian rentals":
www.fineitalianrentals.com

email her directly at:
info@fineitalianrentals.com

she's a great person to work with - honest, nice, helpful, reliable.... everything you'd want in someone who's helping you find a place to live in and enjoy during your trip.

and, just so you know, everyone has to check their firearms at the door so you can't be shot.

I'm renting in May through rentvillas.com - I can't vouch for them until I actually use them, but it was the only affordable agency I could find (I have a studio in the oltrarno, for only $1,000 U.S. I also struggled -I found some rentals dealing with Italian agencies, but I ultimately decided on this one simply because it has a United States office - consequently a State's attorney general to complain to when things go wrong later. So I'm hoping for the best. They had a decent selection of places.