Apartment Vespucci-FL1

Eight rooms with a view!

In the heart of Renaissance Florence, Apartment Vespucci overlooks the Arno one block downstream from the Excelsior and Grand hotels. Located on the Lungarno Amerigo Vespucci, in one of the most fashionable neighborhoods in Florence, if you don't stop to look in the windows of all the shops on the way, it is only a 5-10 minute walk to almost everything in central Florence -- the Uffizi the Duomo, San Lorenzo, Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, the University of Florence, the convention center at the Fortezza da Basso, the Teatro Communale (the site of many Maggio Musicale performances), and the main city park, the Cascine, with tennis courts and swimming pools.  Just behind the Apartment Vespucci is the Borg'Ognissanti, one of the most elegant shopping streets in Florence, with antique shops, leather shops, linen shops, superb pastry shops, and Botticelli's parish church. The list is nearly endless.

Many of Florence's most celebrated restaurants are in the neighborhood, but if you want to cook in the apartment, there are also superb butchers, bakers, fruit and vegetable vendors, a fish-monger, within easy walking distance. The main city food market at San Lorenzo and a modern supermarket are each only 10 minutes away by foot.

The view from Apartment Vespucci includes the "Oltrarno" section of the city, with Brunelleschi's Santo Spirito and the Pitti Palace.  Beyond are the Belvedere Fortress and Bellosguardo hill, dotted with ancient villas visited by Dante and Boccaccio, with their olive groves, vineyards, and 600-year old cypresses. Palaces and the Ponte Vecchio line the Arno to the left.

The apartment is quite large with more than 2,000 square feet of living space on the second floor (American) of a 19th century palazzo built in the classic Florentine style by the Maharaja of Kolhapur, who died here in 1870.

Upon exiting the available elevator and entering the apartment guests find themselves in an entry foyer with a large armoire and a desk.  Three rooms in the front of the apartment, the living room, dining room, and study, overlook the Arno.  All three rooms have high ceilings, elegant moldings, and period furniture. The living and dining rooms have ornate, but (unfortunately non-functional) fireplaces. The dining room table seats eight adults. There is a queen-size sleep-sofa in the living room and a smaller sleep-sofa in the study.

The master bedroom has a queen-size bed, a large armoire,  dresser, and desk. It has a window facing an interior courtyard that provides cool air in the summer. The master bathroom has a bath with a shower and bidet.  A second bedroom has a double bed. A door leads onto a very private covered terrace in the back of the apartment. There is a small bathroom off this bedroom with a toilet, sink, and shower.  A small bedroom is off the master bedroom. It has a single bed and an armoire. It has a shuttered doorway leading to the covered terrace.

 The kitchen has a table at which four people could eat. It is equipped with a gas stove, a refrigerator which is very large by European standards, a washing machine, and a dishwasher.

The apartment is equipped with central heating, central air conditioning, and wireless high-speed internet access.  Apartment Vespucci is fully stocked with bed linens, towels, pots, pans, china, etc.