Located within the Casa Billi guesthouse this cozy attic apartment can sleep two people on the large foldout bed. There's a bathroom with shower and a small kitchen area with two electric burners, a fridge and a microwave.

Casa Billi has a good story - the original business was formed by Lorenzo's family after WWII, having moved to Florence with close to nothing from the Chianti countryside. The neighborhood, at the time, was all craftsman and blue collar workers - perhaps a barber here and a house painter there, but all without money. On the side, Lorenzo's family decided to start a little guesthouse and take in renters. This small family business, now over 50 years later, is still around, today run by a new generation of Billi's - Lorenzo and his wife, Anna. It has the designation of "Esercizio Storico" which means that it is protected as an historical business.

The location is pretty ideal. It's about a 5 minute walk from the central train station, Santa Maria Novella, on Via Faenza (the area preferred by Rick Steves) which is also about half way to the Duomo. It's a short walk to everything in the center, and an area that's really well serviced for the tourist.

A couple of particular points to mention are that:

1. If you arrive after 3pm, you need to contact them in advance - they'll give you a code to enter and you'll be met by them the next day for payment and for any other check in issues.

2. There is an elevator, but it needs a key and can only be used when the owner has checked you in and given you the key, so if you check in after 3pm with the code, you won't have access to the elevator until the following day.

Also, although the elevator can get you up to Casa Billi, there's a narrow staircase that goes up to the studio, so if you have large luggage it could be a bit of a challenge.