We just returned from a great two-week stay in the Azalea apartment.
Pros:
-- great location, convenient for touring throughout Chianti. We even went as far as Lucca and the Val di Orcia.
- clean, spacious layout, well-equipped kitchen and dining room, lovely terrace for al fresco dining, reliable wi-fi, fantastic views, secure parking
- friendly, helpful owner (doesn't speak English but tries hard to communicate)
Cons:
- upstairs layout is awkward for sharing...with ensuite bathroom located where it cannot be comfortably reached by the second bedroom (meaning a trek downstairs to reach a bathroom in the middle of the night); in addition, the bed in the master bedroom is unbelievably hard! I like a hard bed, but it was impossible to sleep on this one.
- some of the advertised amenities did not exist..no hair dryer or microwave, for example. While there was air conditioning, the owner did not provide access, indicating that cross-ventilation was enough. It would have been fine except for mosquitoes and street noise at night.
- we knew we would pay extra for gas but were surprised to learn that also meant hot water...thus we paid extra to take a shower or wash dishes
- we also learned that we would have to pay to do laundry (no problem) but found out that the owner would do it for us...4.50€ per load but we were surprised when it came back wet, washed but not dried.
- there was also an extra charge for towels for the pool.
Overall, we had a pleasant holiday. We simply wish the owner included more of the extras in the basic price so we had a better expectation up-front of the total cost.