If you have come to Florence in order to visit the Uffizi, this would be the place to stay. It's a short 5-minute walk away, yet located in such a quiet street away from the noise of the trattorias and osterias just a stroll away, including one of the best geletarias in Florence practically at your doorstep. So, here you can satisfy both your art leanings as well as food cravings. Santa Croce church is within walking distance and the Ponte Vecchio about 500 meters away.

The apartment looks nondescript from the outside, and continues when you enter an almost dungeon-like atmosphere, as there is a grille gate after the main door, which you unlock, and then 12 stone steps up to a tiny elevator, good enough for 2 and a suitcase, and accessed by two pairs of wooden doors in keeping with the prison-like atmosphere, but once you enter the apartment, there is a burst of light and you enter modernity and space.

Well-equipped with a dishwasher, and washing machine, all utensils for cooking and a spacious wardrobe, a comfortable sofa bed even, and a separate bedroom.

The only minuses - it could do with some sprucing up such as a new kettle jug, as the existing one needed replacing, badly, a dryer would have been great, as it took some time for washing to dry on the line, and the heating only kicked in when the temp dropped below 22 degrees Celsius. A supply of washing detergent would have been useful - we carried our own, but not all travelers would do the same. The bed was also a tad small - an upgrade to a King-sized bed would be good, as would be blackout curtains at the window, instead of the translucent ones.

However, the amount of space was phenomenal - it had a separate living and kitchen cum dining area, and the owner and his brother, Giovanni and Filippo very accommodating and helpful. FIlippo even jumped on his motorbike to reach the apartment in 50 minutes flat when we accidentally left our bag in the apartment when leaving. It is a self-locking front door, so make sure you take everything with you when leaving, as you can't get back in without the keys. The owners stay outside of Florence, so would take at least 30 minutes or more to reach the apartment in any emergency.

Would recommend for the size, the location and the affordability. Essentially, you get what you pay for.

We stayed at De Rustici for 3 nights in August 2016 and had a very enjoyable experience. Our host Giovanni was very pleasant and couldn't be more helpful, even offering to book a taxi to the train station, should we need it.
The apartment itself was clean, very well equipped and had excellent aircon (important in Italian cities in August!). As expected in a characterful old building there were some stairs as the apartment is located on the second floor, but there was also a small elevator after the first small flight of steps, which was a nice surprise.
The location was superb, with great access to the cities numerous sights and also near to bus routes and a small supermarket.
If there were a couple of small downsides, they were that the communal areas of the building don't quite match the high standards of the actual apartment and I really don't like 'add on' charges such as city tax (unavoidable) and the €40 cleaning fee (which should be included in the price), however they didn't detract from the overall positive experience.

We really enjoy out stay at Rustici apartment. The owner reply on all emails very quickly and provides detailed explanation on all questions we asked.