APARTMENTS
STANDARDS

Apartment Standards:

Comforts of Italy ensures that all its apartments and bedrooms meet applicable health and safety requirements. Each Comforts of Italy apartment must consist of and adhere to the following standards:

• Single or shared bedrooms with single beds, one desk for every two residents (if not in a bedroom – within the apartment) residing in the apartment, as well as storage (hanging and folding) for each resident;
• Any room considered a bedroom must have an operable door(s) and walls separating the room from other living and common areas;
• Each apartment shall be equipped with working internet broadband connection sufficient for the number of residents officially residing in the apartment;
• One full bathroom (sink, toilet, shower and/or tub) must be present for every four residents (e.g. an apartment with six residents must have at least 2 full bathrooms). An exception can be made to place 5 residents to a bathroom, but only if the bathroom is large and/or the apartment has a toilet separate from the bathroom (WC). Bathrooms and toilet rooms (WC) must be accessible from common areas, meaning that residents don’t have to cross through other residents’ bedrooms to reach bathrooms. In the case of multiple bathrooms, all residents must have a bathroom accessible either by common space or by their own bedroom;
• An operating kitchen including a refrigerator, stovetop burners, oven (if no oven, apartment will either contain a microwave and a toaster oven or a combination microwave/oven), basic kitchen tools, utensils and equipment for standard meal preparation, full set of flatware, enough dishware to serve all residents at once (plates, bowls, cups, serving plates);

• An eating area with a common dining table and a chair for each resident;
• A shared living space for residents furnished with comfortable seating;
• An apartment manual (“blue binder”) in ENGLISH prepared by Comforts of Italy, containing essential information about the apartment and its contents, as well as important city and emergency numbers;
• A washing machine with instructions in English, and a large drying rack;
• Bed and linens:
• Clean, thick mattresses (one per resident) in good condition (no sagging or exposed springs, no lumpy or unusually hard or thin mattresses);
• Clean pillows (one per resident) in good condition;
• Bed linens (one set per resident), comforters (one per resident) and towels (two per resident);
• Functioning light bulbs in all sockets (at time of check-in);
• An iron and ironing board;
• The immediate surroundings and main point of entrance of the apartment must be well-lit and safe, and within an easy commute to school, as defined collectively by Comforts of Italy and the host institution;
• Each Comforts of Italy apartment shall be equipped with smoke detectors.

Maintenance Expectations:

Maintenance and follow-up for resident maintenance requests are vital and shall be addressed in accordance with the following standards:

• All standard maintenance requests from residents will receive a response by email or phone within 24 hours of receipt of request during business hours, Monday through Friday, 9:30 AM – 6:30 PM. Requests received outside of business hours will receive a response within 24 hours, beginning on the next business day. For example, a request that comes in at 8:00 PM on a Friday will be responded to between 9:30 AM Monday and 9:30 AM Tuesday.
• All requests are triaged and treated in order of urgency. All standard maintenance requests (clogged drain, broken key, broken flush, etc.) from residents will be resolved by Comforts of Italy within 3 full working days from the receipt of the original request, barring situations out of Comforts of Italy’s control (i.e., repairs that must be made by outside vendors, parts that must be ordered, outages requiring city electrical work). In such situations, Comforts of Italy will make every effort to communicate a clear timeline for resolution and propose temporary solutions to students in the interim.
• Comforts of Italy will maintain an emergency phone number which may be used by residents in case of emergencies 24 hours per day, seven (7) days per week in cases where a true emergency arises. Situations justifying use of the Comforts of Italy Emergency Phone include fire, flood, suspicion of gas leak, burglary, lock-out or key loss. Wi-fi outage is not considered to be an emergency.
• In the event that a maintenance request poses a serious problem affecting the residents' well-being, Comforts of Italy will address the maintenance issue as follows:
• HOT WATER: When lack of hot water is reported, a Comforts of Italy staff member will first attempt to resolve the issue over the phone with the student. If no resolution is possible, Comforts of Italy will send a technician to the apartment within 24 hours during business hours. If the technician is unable to resolve the problem, Comforts of Italy will send an external plumbing expert. If after 72 hours from the time reported, the problem has still not been resolved, Comforts of Italy will provide alternative lodging until hot water has been restored.
• HEAT: When lack of heat is reported, a Comforts of Italy staff member will first attempt to resolve the issue over the phone with the student. If no resolution is possible, Comforts of Italy will send a technician to the apartment within 24 hours during business hours. If the problem cannot be resolved by the technician, space heaters will be delivered, and Comforts of Italy will send an external heating expert. If after 72 hours from the time reported, the problem has still not been resolved and the heat achieved with the space heaters is insufficient, Comforts of Italy will provide alternative lodging until the permanent heat supply has been restored.
• ELECTRICITY: When lack of electricity is reported, a Comforts of Italy staff member will first attempt to resolve the issue over the phone with the student. If no resolution is possible, Comforts of Italy will send a technician to the apartment within 24 hours during business hours. If the problem cannot be resolved by the technician, and Comforts of Italy will send an external electrician. If after 24 hours from the time reported, the problem has still not been resolved, Comforts of Italy will provide alternative lodging until the electricity has been restored.
• GAS LEAK: Comforts of Italy will immediately alert the local gas company to any suspicion of a gas leak. In the case of an actual gas leak, if the situation cannot be resolved immediately, Comforts of Italy will provide alternative lodging for the residents until necessary repairs have been made and the gas company has declared the apartment safe for habitation.
• INFESTATION: If there is a bedbug infestation or other infestation in a resident apartment, the responsibility for extermination costs will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
• WASHING MACHINE: If the washing machine is broken in an apartment for more than 7 days from the time reported (and it is not due to the negligence or misuse of the residents), from the seventh day until the date of repair, Comforts of Italy will reimburse residents for self-service Laundromat costs at a rate of 7 euros per resident per week.
• WI-FI: When a wi-fi outage is reported, a Comforts of Italy staff member will first attempt to resolve the issue over the phone or via email with the student. If no resolution is possible, Comforts of Italy will deliver hotspots as needed to allow students to connect to the internet until the situation can be permanently resolved.
• LOCKOUT/KEY LOSS: In the case of an apartment lockout during business hours, Comforts of Italy will make a key available for residents to pick up at the Comforts of Italy office and return during the same business day. In the case of an after-hours lockout or key loss, Comforts of Italy will send a team member with a key to open the door, and will charge residents an administrative fee for this service. In the case of a lost key and/or fob, residents will be charged an administrative fee as well as the actual cost of the key/ fob replacement and locksmith intervention if required.
• In the above described situations, Comforts of Italy will guarantee temporary relodging and compensation for perished food products as follows:
• ALTERNATIVE LODGING: Where alternative lodging is necessitated according to the terms above, Comforts of Italy will endeavor to place students in an alternative Comforts of Italy apartment. Based on availability and configuration (number of beds), Comforts of Italy cannot guarantee that this apartment will be in the same neighborhood or that all roommates will be able to stay together. If no Comforts of Italy apartment is available, students may be placed in a hotel room or rented apartment that meets Comforts of Italy standards. Comforts of Italy still cannot guarantee the location of the temporary alternative lodging or that roommates will be placed together, though this is a priority where possible. Comforts of Italy will reimburse residents for transportation costs to and from the temporary housing. Students will return to their original apartment following necessary repairs according to the timeline laid out by Comforts of Italy.
• REIMBURSEMENT FOR FOOD: Comforts of Italy shall reimburse residents an amount of €15 per diem if residents have had a broken refrigerator, or no electricity, for more than 24 hours from the time reported, or due to a maintenance issue, residents are moved to temporary alternative housing that does not include appropriate kitchen facilities for each day spent in the temporary housing.