Flat in Florence - Advice

That's normal. Have they asked for any deposit in advance? They almost always do. We rented an apartment in Rome for a week once, and the owner had us mail her a personal check in advance to hold the reservation. If we had cancelled, she would have cashed the check. (I guess she wasn't concerned about the possibility of a "stop payment".) She kept the check until we checked out as a security deposit.

Okay, great, I feel better. Yes, the reservation requires a deposit via check or paypal beforehand. I just wasn't sure of the cash/upfront part, so wanted to run it by you all. Thanks!

That is standard practice in the apartment rental procedure.

In addition, you'll probable have a security deposit up front as well that will be returned to you at departure. Assuming you haven't trashed the place.

We're renting week-long apartments in six cities this summer. All but one required payment in advance. It made me nervous, too, but I've spent a lot of time checking and it is the normal practice. Look for places that have reviews!

Yes and NEVER wire money - Western Union - that you can not recover. If you can choose between check or credit card/Paypal choose the latter also in case something goes wrong - you'll have a chance of getting a deposit back from the credit card company.

This is standard practice. We spent this past September and October in Italy and stayed at 5 different agriturismos or apartments and all stated that payment was to be paid in cash upon arrival, although none actually required payment until the day of departure.

I have rented apartments in Florence, Rome and Venice several time but, have always only paid a deposit (maybe one night's stay) and then paid the remainer in cash when I arrived. I have never been asked to pay the entire amount before arriving. Are you renting through an agency or an individual?

Have you tried VRBO? Vacation Rental by Owner.

Rented an apartment in Florence in July 2009 and paid a 100 Euro deposit through paypal. Paid remainder upon arrival. The utilities we consumed were then subtracted out of our deposit. We have rented apts. in several agriturismi over the years and have only had to send a deposit never the entire amount.