Hello, we are travelling around Italy, and by the time we get to Florence we will need to do a couple loads of laundry. I’m debating between an Airbnb rental or seeing if there is a guesthouse or hotel that offers a washer. We had a terrible experience with Airbnb last year in Australia (Nothing like the pictures) so I want to explore all options this time around. Thank you in advance, Robin
I would suggest just finding a self service “lavanderia”. If you get a rental with a washer, it will likely be small and you will have no dryer. We’ve found it far easier in our travels to just find a public laundry. It usually takes far less time and we can dry our clothes, too.
Look at Booking.com rather than AirBnB. All costs are indicated up front, less "task list" hassle, you will have a larger variety of lodging types to choose from, from small hotels, to chains, to apartments and houses. There map function also shows you exactly where the property is at, not a vague or misleading "area"
You can also sort by amenity, including laundry, but as the other poster said, you likely will not have a dryer. However, we still look for a washer, then take some clothes to a coin op laundry to dry. I doubt any hotels will have "free" laundry, they may offer a service, but at a cost.
We did ours at a self-service coin laundry in Florence. You can do it faster if you have multiple washers/dryers available. Actually, having dryers, good ones, at ALL is a plus!
LOL, we consider doing a couple loads of wash on our trips all part of the cultural experience. There are bunches of places to do a suds of the duds. :O)
https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Lavanderia&find_loc=Firenze
Find a Bubblepoint or whatever they are called. I used this one last time in Florence. Via Sant'Antonino, 6/8, 50123 Firenze FI, Italy
We used an AirBnB but small washer, no dryer.
Also, the dryers in laundromats in Italy can become very hot. Be careful with delicates.
I booked this:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1806477?source_impression_id=p3_1709686778_wtfB8uqlcj5kZCO%2B
I didn’t book it for the laundry but it does say there is a washer/dryer available. My kids are very excited to stay at this place.
Looks like a lot of fun, Tbird! Just note that they list a washer under amenities but not a dryer, and a recent guest wrote this in their Sept. 2023 review:
"For those concerned about a dryer, the washer was fantastic and spun so efficiently that the clothes were almost dry when the cycle stopped. We did 2 loads and everything dried very quickly on the drying rack."
So while the washer apparently does a good job, damp duds still need time on the drying rack. No biggie if planned for. Have a great time in fascinating Florence!
Most European homes (at least the ones I've come across) will have a washer/drier combo due to size limitations. These are smaller capacity than what you find in North American homes, and while efficient they take much longer if you're needing to do several loads. I did a small single-load of laundry at a home-share in Madrid, the 'fast' setting on a wash/dry combo still took 2+ hours to wash/dry a mixed-color load. I've also done laundry at a home-share in Florence, no drier so, we had socks/underwear and a few other items on the drying rack and hanging all about, fortunately the air was warm and we cold leave our windows open so the breeze took care of the rest.
As others have pointed out, the washer/drier combos are huge time sucks so, it may be best to find a laundromat/coin operated laundry location where you can knock-out several loads, all at once and not use-up your vacation time doing laundry.