Forget Overpriced Florence Hotels, Rent A "Little Florentine Retreat" For Your Best Value And Comfort

Little Florentine Retreat
Via di Pilastri 36, Firenze, Italia
Web: Airbnb
Prices:  € € € € 

Accommodations: Apartment

Via Pilastri and Chiesa Sant'Ambrogio (Far Right)

We spent two months in Florence, one month in July 2012 and the other this past July (2015), staying in apartments both times. The first apartment was small, but nice in the Santa Croce/Sant'Ambrogio area and the cost a very reasonable $1000 a month or a little over $33 per day. It had a small kitchen and bath, living room, loft (open) bedroom, air conditioning, wireless internet, and a clothes washer.

Living Room

We tried to rent the same apartment this year, but the owner was not cooperative, so we found another place in the same area, our favorite, and are we happy we did!

Main Bedroom

This apartment, just around the corner from the Jewish Temple and down the street from Chiesa and Mercato Sant'Ambrogio, is on the top floor of a historic villa. With no elevator, the 54 steps (no elevator) to the apartment became tedious over the month, particularly with heavy bags and 100 degree temperatures practically every day, so we limited are exits and entries as much as possible. After all, who wants to spend most of the day in an apartment when in one of the most beautiful and culturally abundant cities in the world?

Main Bedroom and Wardrobe

Kitchen

The owner greeted us warmly upon arrival, explaining the intricacies of the small, but very functional two-bedroom apartment. One decent size bedroom with queen size bed and wardrobe and one smaller bedroom with a pullout bed, desk, and chair were all we needed for the two of us and the occasional guest. Entering into the small kitchen-living room area, the bedrooms and bath were readily accessible. The small bathroom has a shower and bidet as well as a skylight providing ample natural light. The bedrooms both have air conditioning, but the kitchen, living room, and bath do not. However, with the bedroom AC units on and doors open, which we used sparingly, the main living area's temperature was tolerable in the 100 degree heat. The apartment has a TV with limited English language broadcasts, fast (cable optic) wireless internet, a dishwasher and clothes washer. The furniture was modern and functional, and everything necessary to live comfortably (pots, pans, dishes, silverware, toaster, microwave, etc.) was provided.

Entry and Kitchen

The apartment has been renovated inside, but still retains some of the charm of a historic building with exposed wood beams and terra cotta tile roof. The floors were also terra cotta tile. There are windows in each room, medium sized in the main bedroom and living room with views of the pallazzo across the street and a small window with no view in the smaller bedroom. The windows have wooden shutters which can be closed to provide darkness for those who may be sensitive to light when sleeping.

There are two supermarkets (Conad and Carrefour) within a five minute walk as well as shops, restaurants, bars, hardware stores or pretty much anything else you could find elsewhere in Italy. Santa Croce is a ten minute walk, and the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, and the train station are just fifteen to 20 minutes away by foot. The best pizzeria in Florence, Il Pizzaiuolo, is close by, serving delicious Neopolitan-style pizza at fairly reasonable prices. Mercato Sant'Ambrogio (open 7:30am - 2:30 pm Monday thru Saturday) is also a short stroll away where you can buy clothing, shoes, housewares, fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, meat, salami, cheese, bread or anything else you might need in the kitchen. They also have a small restaurant where you can get an inexpensive lunch for less than €10 per person. It is much smaller than the touristy Mercato San Lorenzo (a ten minute walk away), but has everything you need, is frequented mostly by locals, and has better prices.

Bathroom

The owner has recently listed the apartment on Airbnb at $106 per night, but if you plan on staying for a length of time, contact the owner to see about getting a reduced rate. As I mentioned earlier, we paid $1100 for the month of July, about 1/3 of the published daily rate, so it is worth a try!

Bedroom 2

At $106 per night, you may find better values in Florence ($75-$80 per night would probably be a more appropriate price), but for the $1100 per month that we paid, this was an exceptional value and I highly recommend it for long-term stays.

CombatCritic gives  8 Bombs Out of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Read more reviews of Florence restaurants, attractions and day trips as well as ways to save money in CombatCritic's "Definitive Florence (Italy)" ...

Wood Beam and Terra Cotta Celing

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Title: Forget Overpriced Florence Hotels, Rent A "Little Florentine Retreat" For Your Best Value And Comfort

Key Words: Florentine, retreat, apartment, hotel, accommodation, Pilastri, Santa Croce, mercato, Sant'Ambrogio, Duomo, restaurant, Airbnb, Italy, Florence, Firenze, travel, value, definitive, review, guide, 

Andre's "Cozy B&B" (Airbnb)

Andre's "Cozy B&B" (Airbnb)
Near Malaga's Main Train/Bus Station
Malaga, Andalucia, Spain
Prices: € € € € 

Close to the main train and bus stations, and just a 15 minute walk from Old Town Malaga and the port, this accommodation was "as advertised". Andre, short for Andreina, was very welcoming, friendly, and helpful, explaining about the apartment, breakfast, and her three simple rules when I arrived.

The room I stayed in was very small with hardly enough room to pass the bed to get to the window, but it had everything I needed (comfortable double bed, wardrobe, TV, fast wi-fi, ceiling fan) for my short stay of two nights.

The apartment itself is small, but has everything needed. Breakfast is included (make it yourself) and Andre had a nice selection of coffee, teas, and light breakfast options as well as unlimited access to the kitchen and refrigerator. The single bathroom (for two guest rooms) is also small, but the shower is large with plenty of hot water and shampoo, towels, soaps, even sunscreen were provided. If you plan on going to the beach, pack your own towel as Andre does not want her towels leaving the apartment.

In all, for $30 per night (including Airbnb fees), the room was a very good value and I would recommend staying with Andre if looking for an inexpensive option in the heart of Malaga.

CombatCritic Gives Andre's "Cozy B&B" 7 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Are Better! 

Title: Andre's "Cozy B&B" (Airbnb)

Key Words: Airbnb, cozy, B&B, room, apartment, Malaga, Andalucia, Spain, downtown, old town, old, town, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, food, definitive, review, guide

A Bit Dated, But Otherwise Excellent Value If Visiting Montevergine

Hotel Mercurio

Viale San Modestino, 7

83013 Mercogliano, Italy

Prices: $$$$$

Wanting to visit the Santuario di Montevergine, we found a good price on a “Booking” website and made a reservation for a Friday night at just €40 for a double room, including breakfast, at the base of the mountain in the town of Mercogliano and a 20-minute drive to the Abbey of Montevergine.

Mercogliano is a quaint, quiet hillside town about 30 miles (50 kliks) and a world away from Naples, Italy, very close to the famous abbey. Montevergine has been the site of religious orders dating back to the 12th Century and sits almost 5,000 above the base of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. It was reportedly the hiding place of the Shroud of Turin during World War II and is home to the massive and celebrated Byzantine painting on wood of the "Madonna" (Blessed Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus).

Hotel Mercurio is clean, but a bit dated in architecture and furnishings, reminiscent of the 1970s. The staff were friendly and very helpful, giving excellent directions and recommendations for meals and shopping. The restaurant next door, Pizzeria La Tavernetta, was outstanding and very reasonably priced, garnering 10 out of 10 “Bombs” by this critic. We were given a nice size room with a balcony and a view of the valley below, nearby Avellino, and the mountains in the distance. The bathroom, on the other hand, was small and a bit cramped, making it somewhat difficult for a moderate sized person to shower and use the toilet.

The only complaints I have were the surprise parking charge that I later found out was hidden in the small print on the booking website’s confirmation and the “indoor pool” which was actually a community pool a half-block’s walk from the hotel. There is no street parking nearby and the lot across the street is free, but only for two hours, so we paid the minimal fee of €5 for the convenience and security of indoor parking under the hotel.

Breakfast was decent, your typical Italian selections, including choice of coffee (cappuccino, caffe latte, espresso, Americano, etc.), yogurts, cereals, juices and water, bread rolls, salami and cheese, and cornetti, a Southern Italian croissant filled with various crèmes and jams. They have a large dining room, but being a beautiful early-June morning we chose to sit on the veranda overlooking the tennis courts, valley, and mountains. Breakfast is served from 7am (although the server was a little late that morning) to 10am, a reasonable period to expect breakfast.

Hotel Mercurio is an excellent value, providing clean accommodations and very good service at a very reasonable price.

CombatCritic Gives Hotel Mercurio 7 Bombs Out Of 10 With Deductions For The Hidden Parking Charge, Community Pool, and Dated Look … More Bombs Are Better!

Title: A Bit Dated, But Otherwise Excellent Value If Visiting Montevergine

Key Words:  Hotel Mercurio, hotel, albergo, Mercurio, Montevergine, abbey, mountain, Avellino, Viale San Modestino, 83013, Mercogliano, Italy, CombatCritic, TravelValue, review

Guest House Vlado is Split, Croatia is a Scam...Hotels.com Could Care Less!

AUGUST 2010 - Split, Croatia

Guest House Vlado in Split, Croatia is a RIP-OFF!  Do not book a room with this “so-called” guest house. Do not fall for the lies they tell in their description on Hotels.com and don’t expect any help from Hotels.com if you have any problems with a reservation.

I made a reservation from Dubrovnik the day before we left for Split.  Here’s the description Guest House Vlado gives on Hotels.com:

“Enjoying a beautiful Mediterranean climate, crystal clear seas and warm sands, this fascinating area of Croatia is also home to the Guest House Vlado, Split , where guests can take advantage of affordable 3 star accommodation .”

This is no 3-star accommodation and it is not a guest house.  The room we were eventually shown was on the 3^rd floor (no elevator) of an old building with a 2-star “Sobe” sign on the front (a Sobe is a private residence in Slavic countries and anything below 3-stars has minimum essentials).

 “A warm welcome awaits you at this attractive property, and you are assured all the benefits you would expect to find in an upscale hotel. Located close to the Diocletian Palace and the beautiful Bacvice beach, visitors have no excuse not to relax and soak up the sun and the culture. Do not hesitate to ask the experienced staff for local tips and advice. Please Note: This guest house only accepts payment made by cash. “

The Hotels.com map locating Guest House Vlado near the bus/train station and Split’s Old City is a total lie.  I booked the room the day prior (and agreed to pay 80 Euros - $103) because we were only staying in Split for one night and needed to catch a train the following evening, so I was willing to pay extra so we didn’t have to drag our bags all over town.  We followed the map as shown on Hotels.com (with all of our baggage in tow), but Guest House Vlado was nowhere to be found.  When I asked several people where 86a Matice Hrvatske (the address listed on hotels.com) was, we were sent on a wild goose chase around Split for the next 1½ hours, finally locating the address about a mile from the station where we had arrived.  In fact, Diocletian's Palace was 1.06 miles from Guest House Vlado, not 400 yards as advertised on Hotels.com.  The “warm welcome” was an old hag (woman I believe) with a beard sitting in front of a worn out apartment building in a very seedy area.  She was extremely rude and condescending, even when I pointed out all of the inaccuracies of her description and the amenities listed on Hotels.com:

Amenities (all rooms include)

·         Air conditioning

·         Balcony

·         Cable television service

·         Ceiling fan

·         Kitchen

·         Non-smoking only

·         Television

·         Air-conditioned public areas

·         Bar/lounge

·         Garden

·         Grocery/convenience store

·         Number of rooms: 15

·         Restaurant(s) in hotel

·         On-site car rental

·         Room service (24 hours)

This is not a hotel, but several (five according to the old hag) sub-standard properties located in some terrible areas.  There was AC in the room we were shown and a very small balcony.  There was a TV on the floor, but we did not stick around long enough to find out if there was cable.  There was no AC in public areas because there were no public areas.  This is a room on the top floor of a building.  There was no ceiling fan, bar/lounge, garden, grocery/convenience store, car rental agency, room service, or restaurant in the “hotel” because THIS IS NOT A HOTEL.

When we finally got to the room (2½ hours after we had arrived by bus from Dubrovnik), the hag said “Everybody always says thank you so much for this beautiful room, is it not a beautiful room?”  I said, “Actually, no it’s not” and proceeded to tell her about all of the beautiful rooms we had stayed in on our journeys, rarely paying more than 50 Euros for rooms directly on the sea.  She became very rude and threatening at this point, so I told her that we were not going to pay 80 Euros for a room which was falsely advertised and misrepresented on Hotels.com in order to trick me into making the reservation.  She showed me a list of about ten names (with prices ranging from 70 to 130 Euros) which she was expecting from Hotels.com bookings, saying “see how much they are paying, you have a very good price”.  I told her that I refused to be swindled or bullied into staying in (and paying for) a room which was misrepresented in the advertisement, so we told her so and left.  She and her friends followed us for a while as we searched for a place to go (it was now around 7:30 PM), but we finally lost them when we got on a bus for the train station. We were very concerned because of her aggressive nature and did not know what their intentions were.

Here's what they said about Split, Croatia's Guest House Vlado on Hotels.com:

CHECK-IN & CHECK-OUT Check-in: the rooms are available at any time up to 10 p.m. Check-out: it is necessary to leave the rooms not later than 10 a.m. 

• Peristil Square - 300 yards
• Papalic Palace - 300 yards
• Split Cathedral - 300 yards
• Gregory of Nin Statue - 300 yards
• Diocletian's Palace - 400 yards
• City Centre Split - 600 yards
• Bacvice Beach - 600 yards

Lies, Lies, and more lies!!!

DO NOT BOOK ROOMS AT:

Guest House Vlado

43.506801, 16.442363 
Matice Hrvatske 86/a, Split, 21000 Croatia 866-539-0036 

I immediately bought an international calling card (which cost me another $10) and called Hotels.com’s 24-hour “emergency” number, knowing that they would be very supportive and help us out of our predicament.  Wrong!  After getting cut off the first time, I finally spoke with Melvin (Employee # 5262899) at the Hotels.com toll-free emergency number where they advertise their “RISK FREE BOOKING”.  After explaining our situation to Melvin, he said he was sorry, BUT “there is nothing we can do because we are merely a booking site, a middle man, between the property and you.  If you have a problem with the property, you need to work it out with them”.  I asked him how Guest House Vlado could be allowed to lie and cheat people out of large sums of money and Hotels.com doing nothing about it.  He said he was sorry again, there was nothing he could do, the property could still charge us even though we did not stay there, and was going to hand me off to somebody else to try to find us a room.  I had had enough by this point, hung up the phone, and called my bank in the U.S. to warn them about a possibly fraudulent charge on my credit card.  We went directly to the train station and booked the first train out of Split, headed for a much more civilized country, Slovenia. I have booked many rooms over the years with Hotels.com and never had a problem until now.  They are apparently unconcerned about their customers and allow fraudulent business practices on their site (Guest House Vlado is still advertizing rooms and tourists are getting ripped-off two days after our complaint to Hotels.com).  I tried to post a review, warning other travelers about Guest House Vlado, but Hotels.com does not allow it, even though I have an account and have been a customer for many years.  They make you wait for an e-mail with a link “a couple days after your stay” to submit a review.  I finally received the email 5 days later (Aug 19th), but when I clicked on the link, the message I received was “Sorry, you are not eligible to submit reviews”.   More and more Hotels.com customers are being ripped-off by Guest Housel Vlado as I write this, even after warning their employee (Melvin) on 8/14/2010.  We will never book a room with Hotels.com again and I urge you to consider doing the same!!! Boycott Hotels.com until they show some concern for their customers and stand behind the “risk-free” booking they so proudly claim! "We never charge a cancellation or change fee because it's just not fair.  At hotels.com, we understand sometimes your plans fall through. Or, perhaps you just decide you'd prefer to spend your vacation lounging on the beach rather than visiting your in-laws.  Hey, it happens. That's why we never charge you hotels.com change or cancel fees. Other travel sites may charge you a fee to change your plans, but with hotels.com just go online or call 800-2-HOTELS (800-246-8357) to change or cancel your plans. Please note, you may still be subject to change and cancellation fees that the property itself may impose and require us to pass on. So go ahead, be free to change your mind. It's all a lie!  Guest House Vlado is still listed on Hotels.com, Expedia, and other travel sites, so they could obviously care less about the consumers...US!  READ ALL REVIEWS BEFORE BOOKING ON THESE SITES!!!

WARNING: HOTELS.COM STILL LISTS GUEST HOUSE VLADO NEARLY 3 YEARS AFTER WE TOLD THEM ABOUT OUR HORROR STORY ... THAT IS HOW MUCH THEY CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMER ... CHECK FOR YOURSELF:

http://www.hotels.com/ho332024/guest-house-vlado-split-croatia/

HERE ARE SOME MORE REVIEWS ON HOTELS.COM:

"Information about this hotel is not accurate!"
09/2012

I booked this hotel as a convenient place to stay on the last night of my holiday as from the information provided it looked as though it was in the centre of Split - it is not! It was approximately a 2km walk from the harbour in Split and not centrally located as it states on the information. Also, the owner of the guest house was rather rude and overbearing - not pleasant at all. The room, while I expected it to be basic, due to the cheap price, was not clean - the bathroom smelled bad and the kitchen had clearly not been cleaned properly. Unfortunately I would not recommend this as a place to stay

 "Guest House Vlado, Split, 21000 Croatia"
04/2011

Bad Hotel : 1) Map not show the right location 2) Photos shows are not the same hotel 3) Bad room facilities : a) No internet Wifi, b) No TV, c) No toilet/shower in room d) Room door lock malfunction

"description / location are wrong"

08/22/10 LizD186414 Salisbury, United Kingdom

We decided to stay at this guesthouse as it looked close to Split centre, However the icon on the map does not correspond with the actual location of the room. The address is also incorrect as we arrived and were taken to a residential area about 25 minutes walk from town centre. The description and photos (on hotels.com) are also incorrect. It looks nothing like the pictures, Probably 1star rather than 3stars! The bed was 2 single beds pushed together and they were extremely uncomfortable. The 'kitchenette' consisted of a fridge and hob, but there were no utensils or cuttlery, making it difficult to cook! The water did not run away in the shower, the toilet seat had fallen off and on the last day we had no hot water at all. The people staying in the room next door told us that they had no hot water or lighting for the whole of their stay. We stayed in other places in Croatia for a similar price which were far better equipped, cleaner, comfortable and with a better location, therefore would not reccomend anyone to stay here. I was unable to leave a review on hotels.com!

"Lying rip off merchants - avoid at all costs"

10/01/09 littleplats London

The description the owners have posted implies a staffed hotel, but it is actually just a dingy ground floor flat in a drab apartment block. Worst of all though is that the arrow on Expedia's map showed the place to be very near the centre of Split and the Palace, which was the only reason I chose to book it. In fact it turns out to be TWO KILOMETRES out of the centre of town in a crappy suburb. We spent ages searching around for it at the location shown on the map, asking for directions, and by the time we found out where it really was it was too late to find somewhere else. Apart from that the bed was also uncomfortable (the sheet was actually corrugated..) and the shower all but unusable. AVOID AT ALL COSTS