apartment for family in Florence

i've got a week in florence and i'm looking for an apartment for a family of four.
a couple of questions: in renting an apartment, is it normal practice to ask for a deposit and then the remainder in cash upon arrival? i'm a little leery about making a phone call to meet some guy on a street corner with several hundred euros in my pocket.
and has anybody heard of this place, http://www.borgolanoce.it/index.php? it looks very nice but i can't find a review or personal comment about it anywhere online. it's listed on a few sites of apartment rentals though. the closest i've come to it is someone commenting on a hotel located on the same street, and the guy said that that hotel was not so appealing.
thanks for any help.

Yes, if you are dealing directly with the owner of a property then it is normal practice for a deposit to be paid on booking and the balance in cash on arrival. I would advise that you ensure you get a receipt.

If you book through a rental agency, the balance will generally be paid a few weeks before your arrival, and the only cash you'll need to give the owner in this instance will usually be a refundable breakage deposit and possibly a final cleaning charge.

The booking procedure given is normal for rentals. For a great list of apartment rental review look at SlowTrav.

Just a short month ago we were in our rented apartment in Florence. Great location, historical centre, walking distance to everything. We rented thru www.florenceandtuscany.com, where there was alot of choices and past guests had written their reviews. We paid a third of the total fee upfront, and the rest in cash once we were in the apartment. Good luck and have fun!

The procedure you descibe is common all over Italy when you rent an apartment or a room in a B&B. Usually such activities are managed by a person or a family, so they cannot accept credit cards.

I don't know borgolanoce, I recommend you http://digilander.libero.it/gorellik/villaridi.<BR><BR>If you are afraid probably the best thing to do is to buy the Lonely Planet guide or another guide that you can trust and to follow their recommendations.

http://www.regentsuites.com/</a> For another option.

For Rome, I used crosspollinate.com, which mainly handles apartments, though the place I got was technically a B&B. The building I stayed in was in a neighborhood with lots of families, so felt safe and very quiet. Even though this was through an agency, I had the "one-night deposit, balance due in cash" arrangement, as I did for all but one of the places I stayed in Italy.

thanks for all of your help, suggestions and advice.