Unbelievably friendly and warm staff who gladly gave expert travel advice and recommendations that only a Roman would normally be privy to. - Loic Diels
I LOVE this website and will gladly recommend it to anyone headed this way. Nothing disappointed us! - Mary-Iris Taylor
I have been using Cross-Pollinate for about 10 years now. The service is consistently great and I can always find just the kind of apartment we like, at the right price. - Hirani Himona
A really great idea - with a network of hand picked little rooms/guesthouses. If only we could have this in more city destinations! - Zoe Buck
I love Cross-Pollinate and every time we go to a new city I look to see whether they have some accommodations over there. - Arantza Aldea
The two places I have stayed at from Cross-Pollinate have been among the best across Europe. Highly recommended. - Nicholas Burn
Thanks a lot to Cross-Pollinate for the opportunity to experience a city as an insider! We really enjoyed our stay in Rome and Venice and look forward to more. - Tatiana Marchenko
Cross-Pollinate was very helpful when the owner of the B&B wanted to charge us for the baby under 2 y o. It would have been difficult without them since the owners did not speak any english. - Yulia Pichugina
This was our only stay with a C-P apartment and we were very pleased with the entire process. Will look to use them again on our next Europe trip! - Anthony Giglio
Great web site and quick response from the team a CP made the whole experience easy and hassle free. I have already recommended CP to quite of few of my airline industry colleagues and I'm sure they will make use of their excellent service. - Shane Pickles
Cross-Pollinate was extremely helpful! They found us a place to stay in our price range when many other places of business couldn't help us. - Sarah Seminutin
Cross-Pollinate was very easy to use, and it is so much better to stay in places like these than big corporate hotels; you get a much better feel for the place. - Kaspar Deane
Very straight forward. Well done. Definitely would use it again. Love these type of alternatives to hotels! - John White
Cross-Pollinate was fantastic and easy to use. We used Cross-Pollinate to book a room in Florence (the second leg of our trip), which was everything I thought it would be. We have recommended Cross-Pollinate to our friends. - Barbara Carlin
Cross-Pollinate are great - the descriptions are accurate and they are very responsive to questions. - Dominique Bayne
Cross Pollinate was just the best. I had tried a couple of places before coming upon them. As soon as I sent the first email I stopped looking for any more websites. I just wish they expanded to every city in Europe. Their knowledge, helpfulness, etc. was second to none. - Caroline Collis
Appartamento Fiesolana
This 2 bedroom apartment is located about a 5 minute walk from the Duomo. From here you can reach everywhere in the center of Florence - even the Oltrarno - in 30 minutes or less on foot. It's a bit of a trek from SM Novella (the main train station) if you're walking with bags - perhaps a 25 minute walk. But once there, you're ideally a bit outside the congested parts of the center where in the summer you can barely walk, and yet it's all very accessible.

The flat itself is spacious, well furnished and well maintained. When you enter, the flat cuts to the left, where there's a bedroom and a bathroom. A hallway leads from the entrance, passing the second bedroom, and leading to the living room / dining room area. There's a semi-blocked off kitchen that's well stocked with utensils and some basics (salt, oil, etc) and a second breakfast table.

The living room has a fold-out couch. Although the bedrooms are away from the street and thus very quiet, the living room is above the street and at night there could be noise from a restaurant/bar below. The windows are double paned, and block traffic noise, but the owners, who are very attentive to their guests and well travelled themselves, like to be extremely forthcoming about any potential areas of complaint there might be in regards to the noise.

That said, the bar apparently isn't open all year round, and having checked reviews from them from other sites, there were no negative comments about it.

Since the owners established one price per night, regardless of the number of guests, this is a great deal for a family, costing less than a typical double room in a hotel for the entire place.
Amenities
  • hair dryer
  • cable/satellite TV
  • 2nd floor
  • iron
  • full kitchen
  • linen and towels provided
  • microwave
  • no elevator
  • tea kettle
  • telephone
  • toaster
  • WiFi
  • washing machine
  • American coffee machine
Reviews
Maureen on Mar 2016:


The location was fabulous. We appreciated Bruno's advice to take a taxi from the rail station as it would have been difficult to locate on our own.
The apartment was very cold. Although the washer was useful, it took about 24 hours for one load of laundry to dry. It was so cold that we had to wear several layers indoors so they got quite dirty & we couldn't refresh them because the laundry drying time took so long. The ad should be clearer that there is no outdoor laundry drying facilities (as the laundry had to dry inside).
Very helpful! Thanks!
Alison on Mar 2016:


Location is very convenient for both sites and the grocery store. About a 20 minute walk from the train station. Enough dishes and pots that you can cook meals without trouble. Owner helped orient us with a couple of restaurants and the grocery store.
It is right across from a night club which can be very loud at night. Make sure you sleep with your bedroom doors closed on Friday and Saturday nights.
Excellent! Very helpful. I would use this company again.
Anitra Kitts on Dec 2015:


1. location - charming building, easy walk to everything, really good food close by 2. Comfortable - beds, chairs, everything. We were here over Christmas so there was a day or two when we were more in the apartment then not and it was a pleasant place to be. 3. Welcome, orientation, instructions left behind all clear and helpful. Great experience from beginning to end. 4. Yes, there is a bar across the street from the apartment and yes, late at night, the party can be heard (voices of folks on the street) in the front room but the bedrooms are in back and we slept in peace and quiet.
a little more light on the kitchen counter but even so, this apartment is pretty decent for a vacation rental
as always - great.
Ashley Allington on Dec 2014:

Bruno was an amazing host! We were personally welcomed as soon as we arrived in Florence. Bruno have us a lot of helpful tips for navigating throughout Florence which helped us make the most of our weekend in Florence. The flat was clean, spacious and very comfy. We could not have asked for a better experience, it was the best experience I have had in Italy yet. Gratzi Bruno!!!!!!!!
Nothing at all!
Ratings
average score
4.8 / 5.0
Price/Value
5.0
Comfort
4.3
Cleanliness
5.0
Accuracy of listing
4.5
Location
4.8
Helpfulness of owner / staff / host
4.8
Helpfulness of Cross-Pollinate
5.0
Booking details
Booking details: vacation rental apartment (2 bedrooms / 1 bathroom), sleeps max. 6 people
Payment accepted: cash on arrival in euro, by credit card with 5% surcharge
Minimum stay: minimum stay of 2 nights
Cancellations allowed up to: 14 days before arrival
Occupancy: double
Bed options: 1 queen (160 cm) or 2 queens
Policies & Extra Charges: non-smoking, apartment will be clean by 2 pm on day of check-in, check-out time is 11 am, city tourist tax €3 per person per night (not included in price)
Spoken Language(s):
Rates and Availability
Location
 Appartamento Fiesolana
A
Stazione Santa Maria Novella
B
Duomo
C
Uffizi
D
Boboli Gardens
E
Ponte Vecchio
F
Piazza della Signoria
G
Galleria dell’Accademia
H
Pitti Palace
I
Piazza Santo Spirito
J
Mercato Centrale