I feel it's my obligation to fellow travelers to warn you about booking through Simply Home Italy - I apologize up front for the NOVEL, but the level of incompetency and lack of any semblance of customer support warrants it!
This booking was fully paid for and the day before arrival in Florence, I confirmed our arrival time. While on the train to Florence, I receive a text that the bathroom in our apartment (we are two adults in our 60s sleeping in separate bedrooms) was broken; thus, we would be transferred to a much "nicer, larger" apartment for no extra charge...we were tired, and I had to rest and take a shower to prepare for my BIRTHDAY DINNER WITH MY BROTHER, whom I hadn't seen in THREE YEARS!
When we got to the alternate apartment, someone named Laura showed up (my booking contact had been Riccardo) and she said, oh, by the way, the apartment is on the 5th floor and there's NO ELEVATOR...we were traveling with two large, heavy suitcases, two backpacks, and, of course, my purse. The reason I had booked the first apartment was primarily because they had an elevator and they were on the first floor (2nd floor in the US).
What choice did we have? We were tired and needed a place to stay and clean up for that night's festivities. After lugging everything up to the top floor of the building, Laura opens the door and lo and behold, IT'S NOT CLEANED - she immediately says oh, no problem, the cleaning people will be here shortly and asks for our cleaning fee of 50 euro plus the city taxes for two nights, which we paid because we were giving them the benefit of the doubt NOTE TO ALL TRAVELERS: NEVER PAY FOR CLEANING FEES UNLESS YOUR PLACE HAS BEEN FULLY CLEANED WITH ALL BEDS MADE AND FRESH TOWELS!
Fast forward to 4 hours later....we had to leave while she was cleaning and upon our return, we notice the beds are not made and there are no clean towels...the cleaning person is still there and informs me that the agency uses a different company to provide bed sheets and clean towels...IT'S GOING FROM BAD TO WORSE TO MUCH WORSE....at this point, I was LIVID. And I'm an easy-going person who understands things don't always go smoothy, but this was REALLY BAD.
I called several times to my "contact" but NO ANSWER. I tried emailing Simply Home, but NO ANSWER...when I finally get someone to answer the phone (it so happens I speak fluent Italian) it's a completely different person who says she's in the middle of a check-in and that someone will be arriving with sheets and towels..soon...we waited and waited....in the meantime, I had to reschedule dinner for an hour and a half later, THINKING SURELY BY THEN I WILL HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO SHOWER AND GET DRESSED.
I WAS WRONG. The towel and sheets guy (very nice) arrived about one hour after and there was NO WAY I could even wash my face, much less shower and wash my hair...we ran out using Google Maps to try and find the restaurant where my birthday dinner was scheduled, but by the time we got there, my brother had to leave because he had changed his plans so he could have dinner with us at 7:00 and leave for his meeting afterwards...we had arrived at the alternate apartment by 2:00 pm, and it took until almost 8:00 pm to get towels and sheets. IT WAS A TOTAL DISASTER.
I can't find a way to leave a review on a Simply Home website (non existent) but my paperwork also mentions HomeAway; so they must be connected.
FELLOW TRAVELERS PLEASE PAY ATTENTION! My experience with Simply Home was horrendous. On a personal note, I have not ever had a problem going through Airbnb. They provide independent customer service and are easy to reach; the managers/owners give out their personal cell phones/emails for prompt and personal communication. BEWARE of booking through Simply Home or HomeAway. Thank you for listening and please forgive the very long story, Diana